Committee on Packaging may be Abolished

It’s been reported that The Advisory Committee on Packaging could be abolished as part of a cull of 177 arms-length bodies.

The ACP advises the Government on UK compliance with the EC Directive on packaging and packaging waste and on the implementation of the UK’s Packaging Strategy ‘Making the Most of Packaging’.

At the same time the Grocer magazine reported that;

Roses will return to tins after trialling cardboard ‘cartins’ because consumers prefer metal.
That the bottle deposit scheme called for by the CPRE will cost five times as much as they claim.
That Sainsbury’s will be launching a green score card to rate its manufacturers and suppliers and that Heinz is to introduce recyclable PET bottles for HP sauce.

Clearly packaging and the environmental issues associated with it are a major issue for the grocery industry. The abolition of the ACP will remove one of the main opportunities for the industry and Government to address these issues – this has to be a mistake.

At the same time the public and or the press (mainly the Daily Mail) are regularly outraged by the supermarkets’ ‘excess packaging’. There is a real disconnect between the packaging and grocery industry and consumers. The case needs to be made for the vital role packaging plays in preserving and delivering food to consumers in a safe and hygienic way. The industry with the support of INCPEN, The Packaging Federation and Institute of Packaging, needs to make a strong and robust case to promote the benefits of packaging.

If consumers and the media really care about the environment they need to stop blaming packaging and start turning off the lights, turning down the heating and stop wasting the food which the agricultural, grocery and packaging industries have spent so much time and energy producing.

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