Top food brands cut packaging waste

Nine leading brands have become the latest eco-aware groups to sign the Government-backed Courtauld Commitment agreement on packaging reduction.

According to Waste & Resources Action Programme, the new signatories are Britvic, Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dairy Crest, Duchy Originals, Masterfoods, McBride, Nestlé and Premier Foods.

Each brand has pledged to stop packaging waste growth by 2008, deliver waste reductions by 2010 and identify ways to reduce the 6.7m tonnes of food waste thrown away each year.

‘In addition to the obvious environmental benefits that reduced packaging waste brings, consumers will have less packaging to carry home from the supermarket and more space in their bins’, says Wrap chief executive Liz Goodwin. ‘Packaging reduction also delivers cost savings to business.’

Additionally, a new method for measuring packaging waste reduction for Courtauld Commitment signatories will be introduced, to allow the group to track their collective impact.