The UK retailer introduces recyclable pulp and cardboard packaging for its own-brand fish and chicken, aiming to save nearly 700 tons of plastic annually and enhance sustainability.
U.K. retail giant Sainsbury’s has overhauled the packaging of its own-brand fish and chicken products, replacing the trays for its own-label salmon and trout products with more sustainable alternatives.
Sainsbury’s, which operates around 600 supermarkets and over 800 convenience stores, will swap all own-brand salmon fillet trays to pulp cardboard instead of plastic, a UK retailer first. This will result in 70% less plastic, saving 346 tons of plastic a year. The retailer is also making the same changes to its Taste the Difference breaded fish fillets, set to save almost 50 tons of plastic annually.
On the poultry side, Sainsbury’s is rolling out cardboard trays across its Taste the Difference line and breaded chicken line, saving 300 tons of plastic a year. The new packaging will also continue to roll out in the summer for many seasonal chicken favorites, such as breaded goujons, nuggets, schnitzels, and more.
“Together with changes to our breaded fish and chicken packaging, we are set to save 694 tons of plastic a year – a significant step towards our plastic reduction goals,” said Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation at Sainsbury’s.
The new pulp cardboard trays are easily curbside recyclable.
Sainsbury’s recently launched its ‘Good to Know’ logo to help customers find more sustainable products, including those with reduced plastic packaging. The new logo aims to help customers understand the retailer’s work around sustainability and its work towards its Plan for Better ambitions. Customers can find the ‘Good to Know’ logo on the latest packaging of its salmon products.
The announcements are the latest in a string of changes made by the retailer as part of its commitment to reduce its own-brand plastic packaging, such as the by Sainsbury’s plastic steak trays being replaced with cardboard alternatives, which was reported in Packaging World in Sept. 2023. Additionally, Sainsbury’s recently made its greatest standalone plastics removal by swapping plastic baskets for cardboard for all its own brand mushrooms, saving over 775 tonnes of plastic a year.