Progressing the work of the Pact as part of their Second Nature sustainability strategy, Cranswick has delivered true action and results against its initial pledge. Committing to working collaboratively to transform the UK plastics packaging sector by 2025 as part of the Pact, other proactive action Cranswick has taken in just the last 12 months includes:
- Eliminating PVC from all packaging
- Investing in machinery to manage the change from non-recycled to recyclable plastics
- Worked with stakeholders to include recycling guidelines on pack and are at the start of rolling out changes
- Updated all trays to contain a minimum of 65% recycled content and are in the process of changing trays to be 100% recyclable in the home waste stream
Cranswick’s Group commercial director, Jim Brisby, says great work has been done over the last year, but more is needed at greater pace. “At Cranswick, we are proud to have cut 703 tonnes of plastic from our business so far over the last 12 months. However, we recognise that we are still at the start of this journey.
“The time for change is now and as an industry, we must move faster. This is why tackling the issues surrounding plastic packaging is such a vital area in our sustainability strategy, Second Nature. Collectively, we can make a difference."
21 May sees the first anniversary of WRAP’s UK Plastics Pact, an initiative which now has over 100 organisations from across the entire plastics value chain alongside Cranswick as members and supporters. Members have taken a unique pledge to transform the plastic packaging system in the UK, keep plastic out of our oceans and make unnecessary single use plastic packaging a thing of the past. Of many actions being taken, unrecyclable plastics such as black plastics and polystyrene are disappearing from UK supermarket shelves, with many members removing unnecessary single-use plastics such as straws and plastic cutlery from their shelves.
In signing the Pact, Cranswick pledged to join a global wave of change in the way it makes, uses, re-uses and recycles plastic to deliver against the following targets by 2025:
- Target 1: Take actions to eliminate problematic & unnecessary single use plastic
- Target 2: 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
- Target 3: 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted
- Target 4: 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
Committing to the targets set out in The UK Plastics Pact was a build on Cranswick’s own Plastics Pledge to reduce, re-use and recycle launched in January 2018.Plastic waste has never been more topical, with recent action, such as the DEFRA consultation of the UK packaging producer responsibility system, a fresh new step in the right direction as the world works towards a plastic waste free future.
