Grocer Eliminates Cardboard Cereal Boxes
U.K.-based grocer Sainsbury recently announced that it will remove cardboard cereal boxes from its shelves, replacing them with plastic packets. The company has also started selling milk in polythene bags instead of rigid plastic milk bottles.
Sainsbury’s says it is committed to reducing packaging by a third by 2015. Photo: Beaubergeron.com
Sainsbury is the first grocer to make this move and expects that it will cut packaging by one third on its entire range of products.
While Britain produces more than 10 million pounds of waste annually, this could be a step in the right direction to reducing that number.
According to the U.K. Times Online, Sainsbury polled more than 1,000 customers about the 10 worst packaged products and discovered that they were frustrated with excessive levels of packaging.
Other companies are beginning to embrace the idea as well. Kellogg’s, the largest cereal manufacturer in the world, is testing a redesign of its cereal boxes.
The new box is embracing depth over height, which will save up to 5 percent of the space on grocery shelves and cut packaging by 8 percent.
Paperboard, the material used for cereal boxes, has already seen a reduction in recycling value because of less demand from manufacturers.
Misty
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 10:35 am
Who out there is ignorant to the fact that paper / not plastic is a renewable resource?????
diane
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 10:56 am
I believe the government or at least the media should start a campaign to strongly suggest grocers install self-help refill machinery for more bulk items. It is common to see coffee and candy self-operated refills, why not laundry soap?…or milk, or shampoo. The list could go on and on. Specific refill containers could be sold for each item with a swap-out for new containers each time like the propane tanks you get for refill. That would control contamination.
Trey Granger
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 11:16 am
I used to only buy cereal from a brand name box and believed I could taste a difference with the store brand. If they all came in plastic packets instead, I’d probably be less inclined to buy the more expensive brand name.
Susan Svirsky
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Why not cellophane? Isn’t that biodegradable?
Lynn Brown
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I so look for less packaging now days…I take used, washed, plastic containers to my co-op and get bulk stuff like vinegar,soaps,and peanut butter.I love bulk especially herbs….
Carol
posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 6:42 am
Part of the reasoning behind the cereal being in boxes, is presumably to help protect the product from crushing. My question is, if they just put the end product in plastic bags – then won’t they change their shipping method to include more boxing etc. to protect their product on the shipping end? Additionally, if they put the product in plastic bags, they may want their product to still show upright, hence needing to create a new kind of shelving out of yet more raw material that may never be recycled? Hopefully this just isn’t a PR attempt gone stupidly awry.
Ann Shahid
posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
Do the bags need to be plastic?
In the health food stores, some brands of organic cereals can be bought in bulk sizes and they
are in the same packaging that comes inside the cereal box. This is paper and keeps the cereal fresh.
You can also see how much is in the bag. Boxes are deceiving.
Linda E
posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 am
The packaging in the cereal box is plastic, not paper. The idea, according to the article, is saving shelf space, not resources. Bulk cereal, peanut butter, oil, etc. is available in many places, but sometimes the stores don’t want you to put it in your own container, due to weighing it. I reduce waste by using their container once, washing it at home, and taking it with me to use again and again. The problem I see is that reusing certain plastics can cause them to leach more toxins so I keep the product in the plastic container for as short a time as possible and transfer it to my own glass containers to go on my shelf. Now if we can just get manufacturers, stores, etc. to think the same way, we’ll find much better answers to our need to stop making a mess and clean up the mess we’ve got!
Valerie
posted on July 5th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Glad to see some people are thinking things through. While I’m a big proponent of recycling and using less, Misty and Carol make good points that need to be considered. While changing the packaging may be a good PR move, will it really save raw materials, energy, and waste in the end? Big companies need to be real in the changes they make, and unafraid to tell it like it is; for example explaining to customers why changing to plastic packaging may not be better. Sometimes we customers tend to be like sheep that just follow the crowd, but we must appreciate being informed so we can make better, greener decisions on our own.
Rita Pollock
posted on July 5th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I’m flabbergasted that Britain thinks going to plastic from cardboard is a good thing. First, as stated above, paper is a renewable resource. Second, many are turning away from plastic because of the health hazards now related to plastics. Also, plastic is an oil based product and we are trying to get away from relying on other countries for our oil supply as well as it being a diminishing resource for the world.
I have had friends in the plastic industry who died from cancer because the processes and bi-products of the industry are deleterious to health.
Some companies are turning to plastic bottles instead of glass. When they do I no longer buy their products because of the health hazards of plastic and there is an endless supply glass which I can put in the microwave without unhealthy fumes emmanating from them.
Kelsey
posted on July 6th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
It’s so true, the fact that companies are now turning to plastic’s when everyone wants to be using recyclable cardboard. Companies shouls maybe consider having drop off places for cardboard like there are for plastic and glass. They could even give two cents, who knows?! Alot of people don’t recylce cardboard, but if there was a specific place to do it and there’s a “money making possibility”, people will recycle more and companies can reuse the cardboard for their own products once again. By recycling the cardboard, it can in the long run decrease tree cutting. Think about it…