Cranswick announced on May 21 that in the 12 months since becoming one of the first signatories of the UK Plastics Pact, it has removed 703 tons of plastic from across the group, proving to be a pioneer in the fight against plastic waste once again.
As part of its Second Nature sustainability strategy, Cranswick has delivered true action and results against its initial pledge. This progress reaffirms the company's much-stated belief that innovation, investment and continued alliances, through initiatives such as The UK Plastics Pact, are key to achieving results.
Committing to working collaboratively to transform the UK plastics packaging sector by 2025, as part of the Pact, other proactive actions Cranswick has taken in just the last 12 months include:
- Eliminating PVC from all packaging
- Investing in machinery to manage the change from non-recycled to recyclable plastics
- Working with stakeholders to include recycling guidelines on pack and are at the start of rolling out changes
- Updating all trays to contain a minimum of 65% recycled content and are in the process of changing trays to be 100% recyclable in the home waste stream
Cranswick’s Group Commercial Director, Jim Brisby says great work has been done over the last year, but more is needed at greater pace. “At Cranswick, we are proud to have cut 703 tons of plastic from our business so far over the last 12 months. However, we recognize that we are still at the start of this journey.
The time for change is now and as an industry, we must move faster. This is why tackling the issues surrounding plastic packaging is such a vital area in our sustainability strategy, Second Nature. Collectively, we can make a difference."
May 21 is the first anniversary of WRAP’s UK Plastics Pact, an initiative which includes more than 100 organizations from across the entire plastics value chain, alongside Cranswick, as members and supporters. Members have taken a unique pledge to transform the plastic packaging system in the UK, keep plastic out of the oceans and make unnecessary single use plastic packaging a thing of the past. Of many actions being taken, unrecyclable plastics such as black plastics and polystyrene are disappearing from UK supermarket shelves, with many members removing unnecessary single-use plastics such as straws and plastic cutlery from their shelves.
In signing the Pact, Cranswick pledged to join a global wave of change in the way it makes, uses, re-uses and recycles plastic to deliver against the following targets by 2025:
Target 1: Take actions to eliminate problematic & unnecessary single use plastic
Target 2: 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
Target 3: 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted
Target 4: 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
Committing to the targets set out in the UK Plastics Pact was a build on Cranswick’s own Plastics Pledge to reduce, re-use and recycle launched in January 2018. Plastic waste has never been more topical, with recent action such as the DEFRA consultation of the UK packaging producer responsibility system - a fresh new step in the right direction as the world works towards a plastic waste free future.
More details about the UK Plastics Pact can be found here.
