Big three nail green colours to the mast
More branded manufacturers are likely to follow the lead set by Heinz, Northern Foods and Unilever in signing up to a plan to cut packaging and food waste.
The three have adopted the Courtauld Commitment of the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which has targets to reduce UK packaging waste by 160,000t/year by 2008 and 340,000t/year by 2010, and to reduce food waste by 100,000t/year by 2008.
"We are having discussions and expect other brands to come on board," said WRAP.
The three were named last month when 13 grocery retailers met the environment minister Ben Bradshaw and WRAP's chief executive Jennie Price.
Under the Courtauld Commitment businesses promise to design out packaging waste growth by 2008, deliver absolute reductions by March 2010 and identify ways to cut food waste.
Price said retailers had an enormous capacity to influence and innovate, while involvement of big brands "increases the momentum".
Retailers also proposed action on: food waste; biopolymers and compostable packaging; and on-pack recycling information.
Meanwhile, Tetra Pak has urged caution on a proposal by the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Green Alliance to tax disposable and hard-to-recycle packaging. It said that any tax should be applied to all packaging, based on the environmental damage caused throughout a product's life-cycle.
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