This is a step in the right direction: Iceland’s managing director has just vowed to eliminate all plastic packaging from the store’s own brand products, to help end the ‘scourge’ of plastic pollution.
Waitrose’s own environmental policy claims it supports the effort to reduce our reliance on plastic -- but it doesn’t go far enough. Let’s tell Waitrose to follow Iceland’s lead and ban plastic packaging for its own brand products!
Waitrose: remove all plastic packaging from your own brand products!
Plastic dumped into the sea can get stuck in sea turtles’ nostrils, lodged in the stomachs of baby seabirds, and end up eaten by fish, spreading dangerous toxic pollutants into our food supply.
Iceland managing director Richard Walker said: “The world has woken up to the scourge of plastics. A truckload is entering our oceans every minute, causing untold damage to our marine environment and ultimately humanity. The onus is on retailers… to take a stand and deliver meaningful change.”
As well as removing all plastic from its packaging, Iceland has also pledged to make its packaging recycling-friendly and set up a bottle deposit scheme. Waitrose prides itself on being an ethical supermarket -- there’s no reason it can’t do the same.
Waitrose: we know you care -- remove all plastic packaging from your own brand products!
Waitrose clearly cares about its impact on planet. Last year, they announced a fleet of biomethane-fueled trucks, saving 100 tonnes of CO2 a year for every truck -- now let’s push Waitrose to go one step further and remove all plastic packaging from its own brand products.
We know that when SumOfUs members like you stand up for what’s right, together we can force companies to change. After all we’ve done it before. Hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs members like you forced McDonald's -- along with companies like Starbucks, and KFC -- to commit to sourcing 100% responsible palm oil. When we expose the ugly side of corporate giants, they take action to protect their brand -- and we score a massive victory for our planet.
More information
BBC. 14 January 2018.
The Guardian. 15 January 2018.