Research by Zero Waste Scotland has revealed that shoppers are unknowingly spending hundreds of millions of pounds on single-use packaging, making the climate emergency situation significantly worse.
The research has found that Scottish consumers are collectively buying more than 300,000 tonnes of single-use packaging for their groceries every year.
The estimated total annual cost to households of all this packaging is £600 million, which is hidden within the overall price of their groceries.
On tops of this, they pay around £40 million a year to cover the costs for local authorities to collect and manage all the single-use packaging once it is disposed of.
Producing such huge quantities of single-use packaging generates 650,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to emissions from around four million car journeys from Aberdeen to London.
Zero Waste Scotland is highlighting the potential benefit of alternative packaging-free stores where customers can bring their own containers to fill with items from pasta and rice to cleaning products.
Michael Lenaghan, environmental policy advisor from Zero Waste Scotland, said: “It’s easy to think of packaging as part of the product we want, rather than a product in its own right. In truth, when we buy 500ml of shampoo, we’re also buying a 500ml shampoo bottle, but the cost of that bottle is not evident.”
“Packaging is not free. Add it all up, and the average consumer spends a lot on single-use packaging. And all this single-use packaging doesn’t just come with a cost for consumers, it also brings a significant cost to the environment.”
“To be clear, the point of this is not to say that packaging is inherently bad, but that it is inherently a product, and like any other product, consumers can make more informed decisions about whether the service provided is worth the cost, if that cost is made clear upfront.”
Iain Gulland, Zero Waste Scotland Chief Executive, said: “Packaging is often seen as essential to protect products and, like other techniques like pasteurising to freezing, it can also prolong the shelf-life of food.”
“However, too many products come in packaging which is unnecessary and single-use, generating significant emissions and waste. We advocate avoiding packaging which is not needed.”
“Where it is needed, we must look to more circular solutions. Emerging plastic packaging-free aisles in supermarkets show how key players are changing their operations to meet public demand and changing environmental policies.”