Sainsbury’s is switching to cardboard and paper packaging for several in-store bakery (ISB) products in its latest commitment to reducing plastic waste.
The biggest reduction in plastic – estimated to be 414 tonnes per year – is being made to packaging for doughnuts and pastries. Instead of plastic clam shell-style packaging, the retailer will sell doughnuts in cardboard boxes with a small window, while paper bags will be used for twin-pack pastries, croissants, and cinnamon swirls.
ISB bread, meanwhile, will see plastic reduced by up to 60% through the removal of full plastic bags across loaves, baguettes, and batons. These are to be replaced with recyclable paper bags with a plastic window, saving around 152 tonnes of plastic a year. Sainsbury’s customers can expect to see the changes rolled out at all stores over the coming months, it said.
While the paper and cardboard can simply be recycled at home in kerbside bins, the new thin plastic windows will need to be separated from the original packaging and recycled at the front-of-store recycling points at Sainsbury’s stores.
The move follows on from the supermarket’s rollout of cardboard packaging for mushroom punnets at the start of 2024, its biggest ever plastic reduction initiative set to eliminate 775 tonnes of plastic annually. Sainsbury’s was also the first UK retailer to switch all of its kitchen and toilet roll packaging from plastic to paper last year.
It recently launched its ‘Good to Know’ logo aimed at helping customers understand more about its work to support sustainability, animal welfare and communities.
Other major retailers unveiling recyclable packaging for bakery lines this year include Waitrose for its food-to-go sandwich and wrap range and M&S for its sandwiches and toasties at café outlets. M&S also launched paper packaging for its garlic butter baguettes last month.
Back in March, Sainsbury’s announced plans to remove scratch baking from more of its ISB operations as part of wider proposals to help it deliver its Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy.
According to Kantar data for the 12 weeks ending 17 March 2024, Sainsbury’s has the third biggest share (13.7%) of the ISB market behind former leader Tesco (18%), and Lidl (18.2%), which has steadily climbed the ranks over the past year to claim the top spot.
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