Food packaging growth at a standstill

The amount of food packaging sold in Britain has not increased in two years, a new report has found.

The report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) showed that the total amount of packaging sold since 2006 has stayed the same. This is despite an increase in population and food sales over this time.

In 2005, WRAP, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and food retailers signed the Courtauld Commitment, pledging to slow packaging growth to zero by the end of 2008.

"This demonstrates what can be achieved by voluntary measures, enabling retailers to find solutions that fit their business," said Jane Milne, BRC Director of Business Environment. "The next big gain will be in securing the same change across the whole grocery supply chain."

Meanwhile a Defra-funded report has urged food manufacturers to prioritise waste separation at source.

The report, by Defra and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), showed that food manufacturers recovered or recycled 82% of the waste produced at their sites in 2006.

However, the report also found that the ratio of mixed food and packaging waste sent to landfill was higher than unmixed food waste.

Of the 134,819 tonnes of total waste produced by mixed food and packaging refuse, 109,686 tonnes was sent to landfill. This compared to 17,569 tonnes of the 604,883 tonnes of unmixed food waste.