Sainsbury's in the dock on "excessive" packaging

The company is being prosecuted over a Taste the Difference joint of beef by Lincolnshire Trading Standards officers. The Ultimate beef joint is described as being vac-packed, placed inside a plastic tray, topped with a transparent plastic lid and surrounded with a cardboard sleeve.

Peter Heafield, Head of Trading Standards at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Excessive packaging on goods can cause unnecessary damage to the environment and increases costs associated with recycling and landfill. 

“Lincolnshire County Council has a duty to enforce regulations which require businesses to review and reduce their packaging so that items are packaged only in a way that is necessary for issues such as protection of the product and consumer acceptance. 

“The council’s Trading Standards service has worked to help and support many businesses in reducing their packaging where possible. Following a consumer complaint about a product available in Sainsbury’s, Trading Standards carried out an investigation which has resulted in the matter being brought before the court.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “The packaging of the product in question has now been reduced by 53 per cent, and is set to be reduced by at least another 10 per cent within the next few months. As such, we were surprised by the comments made by Lincolnshire County Council, which do not reflect the very positive outcome of our meeting with Lincolnshire’s packaging team. In fact, we have been informed that the council, in light of that meeting, is currently looking again at whether it will proceed.

“Reducing packaging is a key part of our environmental commitments, which is why we have set an industry-leading target to reduce it by a third by 2015, and we’ve made great progress to date. For example, by stocking basics cereal in bags rather than boxes, we save 165 tonnes of cardboard per year without affecting the quality of the product.

“Packaging is essential to ensure food remains fresh and undamaged, thereby preventing food waste, and we are committed to finding ways to reduce it while ensuring it remains functional.”

Wrap (Waste & Resources Action Programme), the body in charge of encouraging businesses to use less packaging, said Sainsbury’s had a good track record. A spokesman from Wrap said: “Sainsbury’s is one of dozens of companies, including all the major UK supermarkets, committed to reducing waste through their involvement with Wrap’s Courtauld Commitment.

“The grocery retail sector has made great progress in reducing food and packaging waste and they continue to do so through the second phase of The Courtauld Commitment.”

The case is scheduled to go ahead on October 13.

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