Tesco and Sainsbury’s Accused of Misleading Shoppers Over Recycling Schemes

Investigation reveals most soft plastic returned to stores is burned or downcycled, not recycled as claimed.

Tescos and Sainsbury’s have been found to burn or downcycle most of the soft plastic collected through their front-of-store recycling schemes.
Tracking devices placed in 40 bundles of plastic revealed that 70% of the waste that reached a final destination was burned for energy.
Campaign groups Everyday Plastic and EIA UK conducted the investigation, highlighting the misleading nature of supermarket recycling claims.
Critics argue that the schemes distract from the larger issue of excessive plastic production and call for a 40% reduction in global plastic production by 2040.
Both supermarkets acknowledge the findings and express a commitment to improving recycling efforts, citing current limitations in the UK’s recycling infrastructure.