WRAP fund sidesteps risk barriers as well as finance

The first projects to receive grants from theWaste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Waste Minimisation Fund are finding that its value is as much to do with preserving delicate supplier-retailer relationships as it is about finance.

Consultancy Eco3 is involved in a number of WRAP-funded projects, including one with Geest company Yorkshire Fresh Salads and Asda. Here, Eco3 is helping to trial a lower-gauge salad bag in the distribution and retail environments. Just a five micron reduction in the bag film from 35 microns would, says md Mark Shayler, mean a reduction in household waste of just under 3,000t a year if adopted by all retailers for their prepacked salads.

This thinner gauge is already in use across parts of Europe, he says: "Asda is happy to work with us on this. We will put the new bag through its distribution network into the stores, just to establish that it does work well."

Shayler maintains: "The involvement of WRAP reduces barriers, both financial and risk-based. Suppliers are so worried about the security of their contracts with retailers that they tend to avoid innovation and leave pack designs as they are."

In a similar project, Eco3 is working with Compact Packaging to trial a reduced-gauge stretchwrap material, again with Asda. The film is up to half the thickness of traditional materials, and also has breathable qualities.

In other grant-winning projects, the Co-operative Group is abandoning the outer case used for its own-brand tomato puree, and using a multi-trip tray instead, and Sprout Design is supplying Tesco with a waste-saving ready meal pack.

Launched in the third quarter of 2004 (see Food Manufacture December 2004, p21), WRAP's £8m Waste Minimisation Fund aims to support projects which reduce the amount of retail packaging in the waste stream.