Council tax against too much food packaging

Almost 40 per cent of supermarket food packaging cannot be easily recycled, according to a study by the Local Government Association.

 Researchers assessed the packaging in a
typical shopping basket at eight supermarkets. Waitrose had the heaviest packaging
(802.5 grams) and Tesco the lightest (645.5 grams). Lidl had the lowest level of packaging
that could be easily recycled and Sainsbury's had the highest.

Since the LGA first assessed the weight
of food packaging in October 2007 it has been reduced overall, but
the proportion that can be recycled has changed little. Council
leaders said that whilst people are recycling more rubbish their
efforts are being held back by supermarkets.

They said supermarkets should pay
towards recycling services so that more packaging can be recycled and
council tax kept down.

Landfill tax costs councils £32
for every ton of rubbish they throw away, a figure that will rise to
£48 a ton by 2010.

The food and drink industry cut food
packaging by an estimated 70,000 tonnes last year. Examples included Britvic saving 1,670
tons of plastic a year by redesigning Robinsons squash bottles and
Cadbury, Mars and Nestle cutting packaging on Easter eggs by a
quarter.