The UK Plastics Pact member statements

The UK Plastics Pact is a unique collaboration which brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs. Read on to see why our members have signed up to take action on this crucial issue:

Asda, Senior Manager for Plastic Reduction, Nikki Dixon, said: “No business is able to fully tackle the issue of plastic waste alone - we need the whole industry to work collaboratively to confront the problem. I’m delighted Asda is a founding member of The UK Plastics Pact, further underlining our promise to our customers to use less and recycle more plastic.”

British Plastics Federation, Director of Plastics and Flexible Packaging, Barry Turner, said: “The British Plastics Federation is delighted to support The UK Plastics Pact. We are committed to playing our part in leaving the environment in a better state for future generations. We look forward to providing industry expertise while continuing to develop the BPF’s Marine Litter Platform, with its objective of stopping plastic waste entering our oceans.”

British Retail Consortium, Director of Food and Sustainability, Andrew Opie, said: “Major retailers will be at the heart of The UK Plastics Pact to help drive innovation in reducing and re-using plastics. The UK retail industry is leading the way in protecting the environment by reducing single-use plastic – taking over 2 billion plastic cotton buds from the market each year and phasing out plastic straws. We want to see a holistic approach to the environment and resources rather than shifting from single issue to single issue, so we welcome this comprehensive approach and the opportunity to work with other link-minded groups to tackle this problem together.”

Britvic, Chief Marketing Officer, Matt Barwell, said: “This is an extremely important issue and we take our responsibility to help protect the environment incredibly seriously. By signing up to this Pact, we are committing to work collaboratively with our industry peers, government and the waste management sector to make meaningful and essential changes now.

“Already, all our PET plastic bottles are fully recyclable in the UK recycling system and carry the on-pack-recycling-label to encourage our consumers to recycle. In 2017 we removed 308 tonnes of primary plastic bottle packaging from our supply chain by moving products onto our new bottling lines and accessing lighter weight bottles.

“Looking to the future of packaging, we are currently trialling the use of recycled plastic (rPET) in our bottles to help us achieve our aim of significantly increasing the amount of rPET we use. At the same time, we continue to invest in R&D to investigate the use of alternative sustainable materials to package our products.”

Coca-Cola European Partners, Vice President & General Manager, Leendert den Hollander, said: “Coca-Cola European Partners welcomes The UK Plastics Pact, and its ambitious targets. It is great to see the strength of commitment from the whole plastics value chain, and the government backing. As a business which has pioneered light-weighting and the use of recycled plastic, and invested in UK recycling capacity, we are keen to play a part in spearheading the transformation of the UK plastic packaging system. In our GB Packaging Strategy we committed to recover all of our packaging so that so that more is recycled and none ends up as litter, and we are doubling the amount of recycled plastic in our bottles to 50% by 2020. Collaboration is critical in reaching these targets and The Plastics Pact represents a key milestone, bringing together a range of stakeholders under one common goal.”

Common Seas, Sea Champion and Founder, Jo Royle, said: "Common Seas is pleased to support The UK Plastics Pact by working with the network to design scalable and investable innovations in materials and systems to be demonstrated at a local level that work towards eliminating plastic pollution in oceans.”

Cranswick’s Group, Commercial Director, Jim Brisby, said: “Following the launch of our sustainability strategy, Second Nature, earlier this year, we’re delighted to announce our latest plastics commitment as a founding partner of The UK Plastics Pact, led by WRAP. We look forward to collaborating with our peers to affect real and long-term change as we take responsibility for and work to overcome the worldwide issue of plastic waste.”

Dunbia, Alan McKeown, Corporate Services Director, said: “Dunbia is delighted to be a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact. We have already made significant progress in plastics reduction and the development of recyclable packaging options including the recent launch of a first to market, fully recyclable mince pack. We look forward to making a meaningful contribution to this important initiative to reduce the unnecessary use of plastics in our economy.”

Ecover, Tom Domen, Global Innovation Lead said: “Ecover has always worked to minimise the impact of its packaging on the environment, introducing refills and renewable plant based plastic and more recently launching the Ecover Ocean Plastic limited edition bottle. Ecover has now set itself the bold ambition to use 100% recycled plastic in all bottles by 2020, to introduce recycled content into its caps from 2018 and to trial new, non-plastic, fully marine biodegradable materials that are still recyclable by 2020. As a first step in rethinking how it uses plastic, in January 2018, Ecover launched its new 100% recycled and 100% recyclable washing-up liquid bottle in Europe."

Food and Drink Federation, Chief Scientific Officer, Helen Munday, said: “FDF is proud to be a founding signatory of The UK Plastics Pact, designed to bring together the entire plastics value chain under one holistic approach and one ambitious set of targets.

“Whilst we shouldn’t lose sight of the very important role plastic packaging plays in protecting and preserving food products throughout the food and drink supply chain, FDF fully recognises that more needs to be done to the capture the value of used packaging generated both on-the-go and in the home, especially through increased recycling.

“We look forward to working with WRAP and the other signatories to the Pact going forward. Through our role as a trade association we will also look to encourage wider member engagement in this important programme.”

Marks & Spencer, Director of Plan A, Mike Barry, said: “No one business, council, recycler or government department can create a New Plastic Economy alone. Only a common approach to polymer use, recovery and reuse will deliver the change we need. At M&S, we will play our part and are committed to reducing our plastic use and making all our packaging widely recyclable.”

Morrisons Chief Executive, David Potts, said: “Reducing the damage caused by plastic is one of the most challenging issues society can address. Because we make most of the fresh food we sell, we’re in an important position to make changes to our packaging. Joining The UK Plastics Pact led by WRAP also offers a special opportunity to work collaboratively to take this opportunity.”

UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “The hospitality industry has a valuable role to play in the fight against plastic and disposable packaging waste. As the representative for the industry we are proudly committed to The UK Plastics Pact and aim to spearhead the sector’s efforts to do more; not only to address the issue of waste, but also to help underline the hospitality sector’s potential to make significant progress without the need for Government intervention.”

Unilever UK and Ireland, General Manager, Sebastian Munden, said: “We are proud to be a founding member of The UK Plastics Pact. We believe that businesses like Unilever can play a vital role in transitioning to a circular economy, making sure as much plastic as possible is re-used or recycled, as well as innovating to find alternative solutions. This is something we have been working on for a while, and we know it’s an issue the people who use and love our brands care about deeply, so we look forward to creating solutions with the consumer goods and other industries, as well as government, to reach the ambitious targets set out today.”

The UK Plastics Pact member statements

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