Sainsbury’s has announced it is removing plastic trays from its by Sainsbury’s steak range, replacing them with a cardboard alternative which uses 70% less plastic.
The new trays launched across 10 products in the range from July 5. They can be recycled at home by rinsing the cardboard before placing it in a kerbside recycling bin.
Sainsbury’s introduced cardboard tray packaging to its Taste the Difference and So Organic steaks previously.
The announcement is the latest in a string of changes made by the retailer on packaging. In April, Sainsbury’s went trayless on whole chickens and also removed plastic bags from its entire banana range earlier this year saving 192 tonnes of plastic. Sainsbury’s was the first UK retailer to introduce cardboard cartons to its own-brand liquid laundry detergent range saving 22 tonnes of plastic a year.
Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation at Sainsbury’s, said: “As part of our Plan for Better commitments, we are trying to reduce plastic packaging across our own brand ranges, as we know that reducing plastic is important to our customers but also on our environmental impact. It’s why we are always looking at ways to innovate our packaging and reduce or replace plastic wherever we can, as quickly as we can. We’re pleased to save another 10 million pieces of plastic a year by swapping our by Sainsbury’s steak trays to cardboard following the changes we have already made on So Organic and Taste the Difference packaging . While we are making good progress, we know there is more to do and we are committed to making bold changes that help us achieve our plastic reduction targets.”
