A bold movement shows a bold commitment.

A major UK grocery company, Sainsbury's, has taken a bold movement toward environmental sustainability and circularity by announcing a massive replacement of recyclable cardboard trays for plastic packaging. 

Sainsbury's beloved breaded chicken and salmon fillet lines will now come in pulp cardboard trays. This is a part of an ingenious movement that will supposedly save 694 tonnes of plastic annually. The major UK grocery company has shown a bold commitment to reducing plastic usage and making an advantageous impact on the environment with this giant leap towards circularity and sustainability.

Starting with the "Good to Know" badge. By making it easy for consumers to recognize items with reduced plastic packaging, Sainsbury's 'Good to Know' badge represents a move towards an environmentally friendly future.

The company also introduced cardboard trays for its 'by Sainsbury' steak variations and moved away from using plastic punnets for its own-brand mushrooms as part of this strategy. However, a more recent announcement about the retailer's use of pulp cardboard trays for their breaded chicken and salmon fillet lines demonstrated their commitment to sustainability.

In some way this time, Sainsbury's proves that even small changes can make a huge difference to Earth.

Made from sugarcane pulp and lined with polyethylene film, the new pulp cardboard trays are recyclable and greatly cut down on plastic waste. This results in a staggering 70% decrease in plastic packaging for its salmon fillets, which saves around 346 tonnes of plastic annually. 'Taste the Difference' breaded fish fillets will be packaged in cardboard, which will reduce annual plastic use by 48 tonnes, and the company's breaded chicken lines, including 'by Sainsbury's' and 'Taste the Difference,' will be packaged in these trays, which will reduce plastic consumption by 300 tonnes.

It would have taken hundreds  elephants to move the weight that Sainsbury's saved by simply replacing one small part.

The significance of this shift was highlighted by Claire Hughes, Sainsbury's director of product and innovation, especially for the retailer's beloved salmon line. "We are now the first retailer to make the move to have recycled pulp card trays across all our by Sainsbury's and 'Taste the Difference' salmon products, enabling a whopping 70% plastic reduction," according to her. "Together with changes to our breaded fish and chicken packaging, we are set to save 694 tonnes of plastic a year – a significant step towards our plastic reduction goals."

This is clearly an initial move in Sainsbury's long-term commitment  to reduce plastic waste, as the company keeps pushing beyond the boundaries of sustainability and circularity.

[1] Rolt, A. (2024, June 11). “UK first”: Sainsbury’s to dish up fish and chicken in recyclable card trays. BusinessGreen News. 

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