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(Photo captioned: John Lewis and Waitrose have made great progress in improving labelling to inform customers about the recyclability of its packaging)


Packaging

Packaging is consistently identified as a key issue for our customers and other stakeholders. Under the terms of the Packaging Waste Regulations, we are obliged to recover and recycle up to 80% of our product packaging, depending on the material. We support this legislation, and contribute over £1 million a year towards a recycling compliance scheme that invests in domestic collections and public recycling centres. Both Waitrose and John Lewis continue to eliminate unnecessary packaging and balance reductions in packaging with ensuring our products remain protected both in transit and on the shelf.

Both John Lewis and Waitrose also remain committed to reducing the number of single-use carrier bags given out to customers through promoting Bags for Life and other reusable bags, Partner training and communications encouraging customers to reuse their existing bags. We have also introduced plastic bags made from part recycled material in both Waitrose and John Lewis.

Waitrose and John Lewis have made great progress in phasing in improved labelling for informing customers about the recyclability of its packaging. This labelling scheme is a voluntary initiative developed by the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP), the British Retail Consortium and leading retailers, including the Partnership. It uses a RecycleNow logo and a statement indicating whether the packaging materials are: ‘widely recycled’ – recycled by over 65% of local authorities; ‘check locally’ – recycled by 20–65% of local authorities, or ‘not currently recycled’ – recycled by under 20% of local authorities. The category thresholds are to be reviewed annually by WRAP and it is expected that many packaging components will change categories as local recycling facilities improve and visibility of less readily recyclable packaging increases.