Reduce or reuse your waste at home

Packaging

We throw away 10.5 million tonnes of packaging every year. A lot of packaging can be recycled, including glass bottles, food tins and drinks cans.

Most items we buy have some sort of packaging. This could be a plastic bag to carry it home or a toy inside a clear bag, tied to a piece of cardboard in a large box with a see-through window.

When we buy products we can make a choice to buy something with less packaging if there are different products available. If there is no choice, we can tell the companies that we want them to change the packaging. If you want to know why something has so much packaging, ask them. Use our template letter to help write that letter or email.

Is packaging a good thing?

Packaging protects goods when they’re being transported to the shop or to your home. It stops a lot of fresh products being damaged before reaching the shelves.

Packaging can provide useful information, for example at list of ingredients, the use by date, the number of calories or whether it can be recycled.

Packaging also shows us if someone has been tampering with the product.

Reporting excess packaging

There is a law setting out the requirements of packaging. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 ( Template letter for products with too much packaging) contain technical requirements but in basic terms say:

• Weight and volume of packaging should be kept to the minimum whilst maintaining levels of safety and hygiene. The public need to find this acceptable.
• Packaging should be made to allow reuse or recycling within technical requirements
• Packaging should avoid hazardous chemicals

This law is enforced by Trading Standards. To report excess packaging contact Consumer Direct or phone 08454 040506.

What do you think?

We want to know how you feel about packaging. Tell us about products you think have good packaging or bad packaging.