Fancy a nice bag of milk? It's on the way as stores vow to cut packaging

THE days of plastic milk bottles could soon be numbered and bread may increasingly be made available in half loaves as companies slash the amount of packaging and food which is thrown away.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Mar 2010, 07:42 BST
Updated 4th Mar 2010, 09:39 BST

Selling milk in bags could become more widespread to help retailers to cut waste, while fruit squashes could be sold at extra-concentrated levels to cut the number of plastic bottles needed.

Major retailers and manufacturers have signed up to a new commitment to cut the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10 per cent by 2012 and help consumers to save 800m by cutting food waste.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A consultation will also be launched into how to recycle 70 per cent of packaging waste by 2020, diverting eight million tonnes of rubbish from landfill.

The moves were announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central, today as he prepared to speak at tonight's awards ceremony for the Yorkshire Post's Environment Awards.

Mr Benn said: "A fifth of household waste is packaging, and more than half of this comes from the groceries we buy. This packaging can be essential, but in many cases using less and smarter packaging can achieve the same result."

He said manufacturers and retailers had already started to take action and halted the increase in packaging, and added that the new commitments would see them going further. He called for more companies to sign up to the scheme in the coming months.

Related topics:Yorkshire Post