The initiative aims to empower consumers to purchase closer to their specific needs. This approach is expected to significantly reduce household food waste, minimize the use of single-use packaging, and save the carbon emissions associated with these practices.
According to the charity, in the UK, a staggering 70% of all edible food waste generated post-farm-gate occurs in households, with fresh fruit and vegetables representing the largest share. This alarming statistic highlights the importance of addressing food and drink sustainability.
Currently, the majority of fresh produce is packaged using single-use plastic—approximately 70,000 tonnes each year. While plastic packaging is recognized as a resource-efficient material, its pervasive escape into the environment underscores the urgent need for sustainable packaging solutions on a global scale.
To combat this, WRAP is collaborating with industry stakeholders to boost the sale of loose fresh produce. Their initiative, “The Pathway to Selling More Uncut Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Loose,” outlines a voluntary framework aiming for 50% of uncut fruit and vegetable sales by volume to be sold loose by 2030. This is a crucial step toward more responsible food and drink marketing.
Nevertheless, WRAP and partners from Courtauld 2030 and the UK Plastics Pact have identified various challenges that come with transitioning to a predominantly loose system for fresh produce. Consequently, they emphasize the necessity of policy interventions to create an equitable competitive landscape.
In order to explore viable formal policy interventions, WRAP has joined forces with the cross-party think tank Policy Connect. Together, they aim to identify ways for the industry to expedite progress toward this sustainability ambition.
As a result of their collaborative efforts, WRAP is advocating for the government to consider a phased approach. This would begin with banning primary packaging on the 21 products already pinpointed in WRAP’s research, while allowing for certain exemptions and considerations.
