Retailers called out for greenwashing with misleading recycling labelling

Every year, UK households throw away around 290,000 tonnes of plastic bags and wrapping, which represents almost a quarter of all consumer packaging waste, however only 6% is currently recycled*. Many supermarkets and e-commerce retailers use these plastic bags and packaging made of Low-Density Polyethylene, or LDPE, which is lightweight and flexible.

Pitman argues that it is irresponsible and misleading to consumers when these are labelled with the universal recycling symbol of three arrows in the shape of a triangle – the Mobius Loop – around the number four, the code for soft plastics, when the UK does not have the capacity to recycle them.

Pitman says: “Whilst LDPE can be recycled, it is no secret that our municipal recycling infrastructure currently only has capacity to recycle very low volumes, around 10,000 tonnes a year. This means that ‘recyclable’ labelling on LDPE packaging is akin to virtue signalling. It suggests to shoppers that the retailer has taken steps to reduce their environmental impact, when in fact they have chosen to use packaging that they know will almost certainly end up in landfill, even though much less harmful packaging options exist.

“Alongside the lack of capacity in the UK, another key contributor to the low recycling figure is that only 17% of our local authorities currently offer kerbside collection of plastic bags and wrapping, and this is not likely to increase significantly before 2027 with the introduction of mandatory kerbside collections of flexible plastics. This is not the fault of retailers but, like all businesses, they have a responsibility to reduce their impact on the environment rather than increase it.”