Supermarket plastic ban proposed for fresh produce

The proposal, aimed at transforming shopping habits by 2030, targets common items such as bananas, apples, potatoes and tomatoes.

“This will be hard,” Harriet Lamb, Wrap’s chief executive, told The Guardian, adding that the ban would represent “one of the biggest changes in the retail landscape in a while”.

The proposal comes in response to some alarming statistics. UK households discard nearly 100bn pieces of plastic packaging annually and approximately 30% of purchased fresh produce ends up in the bin.

Wrap argues that a supermarket plastic ban would be the most effective way to break this cycle of waste. The charity estimates that banning packaging on the specified items when sold in amounts less than 1.5kg could eliminate 100,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables from waste annually and reduce single-use plastic film by 13,000 tonnes.

The UK is not alone in addressing this issue. France has already implemented laws banning packaging on many fresh products, setting a precedent for other nations to follow.

The 21 items proposed for the supermarket plastic ban include apples, aubergines, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, garlic, ginger, lemons, limes, mangos, onions, oranges, parsnips, pears, peppers, potatoes, salad tomatoes, squash and swede.

The UK Plastics Pact, a voluntary initiative led by Wrap, has set a target for 50% of uncut fruit and vegetables to be sold loose by the end of the decade. However, progress has been slow, with an average of only 19.4% of fresh produce sales being loose in 2022.

Grocery Gazette