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Clare Brignall says stripping products of their organic status if they’re packaged in non-recyclable material, would soon solve the problem.
Clare Brignall says stripping products of their organic status if they’re packaged in non-recyclable material, would soon solve the problem. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
Clare Brignall says stripping products of their organic status if they’re packaged in non-recyclable material, would soon solve the problem. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Why do supermarkets sell organic food wrapped in plastic?

This article is more than 6 years old
We find organic mushrooms in non-recyclable trays next to plain veg in compostable wrapping

My environmentally conscious wife Clare is the keenest recycler possible. She even collects and recycles the silver milk bottle tops that I tend to chuck out. But when it comes to organic food she’s furious. Why? Because she finds it is the worst culprit for wrapping almost everything in plastic and polywrap that cannot be recycled. How, she asks, did we reach the situation where the most environmentally produced food is also the worst for packaging and recycling?

Like many others, the Brignall household despairs at the revelations over the past year that 86% of collected plastic is not actually recycled, and the Blue Planet claim that 8m tonnes of the stuff ends up in oceans.

Yet when we pick up a packet of organic carrots, or apples, or avocados – in fact almost any organic fruit or veg in our local supermarket – it comes in plastic packaging that is not only unnecessary, it is almost always not recyclable.

In Waitrose, organic beetroots that you could play football with without damaging, are packed in plastic trays surrounded in non-recyclable plastic sleeves. In Tesco this week organic mushrooms were housed in all-plastic containers, while the cheaper, conventional mushrooms could be bought in greener compostable trays.

Organic mushrooms in non-recyclable plastic, or non-organic in compostable packaging? Your choice. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Organic apples and carrots that don’t need any packaging at all are almost always bagged in plastic that can’t be recycled.

We don’t buy a lot of organic food in supermarkets as, in truth we can’t afford to, but we have been seriously wondering whether we should give up what we do buy, because the environmental benefits are overshadowed by the packaging it comes in.

Take Morrisons, our family’s supermarket of choice. Its standard lettuces come in plastic wraps which we recycle separately. The organic lettuces, though, come in that crinkly packaging that can only be put in the bin, and this is replicated across the organic sector.

Our unscientific study suggests Sainsbury’s is a little better than the others. But it is Waitrose’s Duchy Organic brand that disappoints us most for packaging. Red peppers, tomatoes and carrots are all bagged in non-recyclable plastic bags. If you’re a hedge fund manager and can afford the £3.30 for five organic Pink Lady apples, you’ll be putting the wrapping in the landfill bin. Two organic beetroots that could easily be in a paper, or compostable package, were covered in plastic.

The lettuce is organic, but the wrapping goes straight in the bin. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

A spokeswoman for the Soil Association claimed organic food in supermarkets had to be packaged to prevent it being mixed with non-organic varieties.

“While it is fair to say that there is a lot more to do on packaging when it comes to organic products, I would urge consumers not to give up on buying organic. The benefits to the environment, such as healthy soil, more wildlife and the protection of bees continue to be hugely important. We have convened a specialist working group of industry experts to come up with better packaging solutions, but it has to be done with other European certifiers,” she says.

Waitrose said it didn’t believe its Duchy Organic products were packaged any differently to other organic brands. “We are actively looking at how we can reduce our use of plastic and package our products in more environmentally sustainable alternatives.”

A final word from Clare. She says: “I simply don’t buy these arguments that organic food can’t be sold loose, or with minimal, greener packaging. It’s simple. Products covered in unnecessary, un-recyclable packaging should lose their organic status. Faced with that threat, suppliers would quickly find greener alternatives.”

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