PACKAGING HOW BUTCHERS CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION


As Britain’s supermarkets respond to consumer concerns about plastic packaging waste it becomes ever more important that butchers are not left behind. After all, customer care is at the heart of a butchers point of difference.


A recent survey by Mantle Packaging Machinery found that almost 90% of butchers were ‘likely or very likely’ to be influenced to buy a product because it was recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable – so the will is there. The whole area of sustainable packaging is a complex one, but here are some simple steps butchers might consider to ensure that they AREN’T unwittingly contributing to plastic waste and that they ARE responding to consumer concerns:


1. First and foremost, talk to your suppliers and find out whether the plastic packaging you use is either made from recycled materials, can be recycled, or better still BOTH


2. Help your customers out! Find out whether the packaging you use is recyclable in your local area by visiting www.recyclenow.com


3. Wherever possible STOP using non-recyclable plastic and consider the alternatives available


4. Allow customers to bring in their own containers for certain products


5. Use POS to clearly show customers if the plastic packaging used is recyclable


The good news is that innovations in sustainable food packaging are being developed all the time. This bodes well for situations where


choosing sustainable packaging involves an on-cost that may be difficult to pass on to customers.


Many companies that NCB members may be familiar with, such as Mantle Packaging Machinery, Scobies, Enterpack and Trunet already sell a range of recyclable (and in some cases recycled) products and would be happy to advise. Examples include Mantles Evolve and Opaque ranges of recycled ready meal trays and Scobie and Junor’s new recyclable vacuum pouches.


KNOW YOUR TERMINOLOGY Recyclable plastic


Quite simply, if the material can be processed and made into something else then it is recyclable. Some plastic products themselves are also either entirely or partly made from recycled plastic.


Biodegradable plastic


Biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide (or in the absence of oxygen, methane rather than CO2)


Compostable plastic


These are plastics that not only are they broken down by microbes but can be turned – alongside food and other organic waste – into compost. Only a minority of these plastics are home compostable, so, the label “compostable” most often means industrially compostable.


CRAFT BUTCHER MAY/JUNE 2021| 11


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