Trading Standards in West Dunbartonshire Council is asking people to be
aware of the amount of unnecessary packaging that they throw away. Scotland’s households throw away
approximately 500,000 tonnes of packaging each year with around 17% of this
being from the average household’s food budget.
We recently visited a number of supermarkets in West
Dunbartonshire and compared their ranges of pre-packed and loose
fruit and vegetables. One supermarket would only sell items pre-packed
therefore allowing no choice in buying loose. This meant that every piece of
fruit and vegetables purchased had some kind of packaging which could be deemed
unnecessary, ending up in landfill. Not
surprisingly, the loose items were cheaper to buy than those which were pre-packed,
however loose items could be placed in a polythene bag for convenience.
We are asking shoppers to consider whether they really need their fruit
and veg to be beautifully presented in many layers of packaging which just gets
thrown away. Loose fruit and vegetables are just as nutritious so does it
really matter that they may have the odd dent and surface blemish? Shops only
continue to sell pre-packed fruit and veg because people want them but they
would soon stop selling them if customers make a positive choice to buy them
loose where possible.
Much of Scotland’s
waste goes to landfill, which is not a sustainable method of waste
management. Excess packaging is
unnecessary and contributes to the quantity of waste going to landfill. We urge people to consider their needs before
buying items with unnecessary packaging.
