Proactive Investors - Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) and J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) have been called out for misleading customers over in-store plastic recycling schemes.
Tracking of soft plastics placed in the supermarket’s recycling stations between July 2023 and last February found most waste ended up being burned, according to campaigner Everyday Plastic and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
The duo had placed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) tracking devices in 40 loads of soft plastic waste, which often include single-use bags, wrapping and films.
Such waste cannot be recycled via roadside collections, prompting supermarkets to set up in-store disposal points to ensure the materials are repurposed.
However, the groups found 70% of the waste bundles which reached known destinations were burned for energy and not recycled, while eight of their devices ended up overseas.
Some trackers showed the waste was repurposed into fuel pullets while others were downcycled into lower-value plastic products, though just one tracker showed this happened in the UK, with the studied waste collectively travelling 25,000 kilometres.
Everyday plastic research director Alison Colclough said the investigation showed the supermarket’s recycling schemes were “presented as a solution,” but diverted “attention from the main issue that [...] far too much” plastic packaging was being produced.
“Other countries should not bear the burden of the UK’s high production rate of this waste material and inability to effectively treat it,” EIA ocean campaigner Lauren Weir (LON:WEIR) added.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said damaged plastics may need to be converted for energy, with the “majority” in “good condition” being recycled.
“Feedback is important to us and we’d welcome any suggestions on how we can improve our efforts in this area,” they said.
Tesco added it had “a clear plan to remove packaging wherever possible and reducing, reusing and recycling it where we can’t,” such as for fuel.
The campaign groups said Tesco and Sainsbury’s were studied due to their market dominance, with a legal briefing alongside the study from ClientEarth dubbing information around such schemes as “misleading”.
It comes as Waitrose announced plans on Tuesday to trial a cork recycling scheme in stores, marking a first for a major supermarket.
These will be processed by specialist Amorim, Waitrose said, adding the roughly 25 million corks its customers got through a year often ended up in landfill due to inadequate recycling systems.