Supermarket Waste

Speech by Cllr Alan Armitage delivered to County Council on Tue 7th Apr 2009

It was an article in "First" magazine in February that caused me to start thinking about this motion. This reported that a Local Government Association study had shown that waste from packaging supplied by supermarkets was expected to cost local authorities in the UK some £1.8 billion in landfill taxes over the three years 2008 to 2011.

More than that, despite their pledges to do better, the Courtald Agreement, and some improvement by one or two of the supermarkets, the amount of their packaging which is recyclable had not reduced on average during the previous two years, since the last study had been done.

The Conservative Chairman of the LGA, Cllr Margaret Eaton, was quoted saying: "At a time when shoppers are feeling the pinch, we have to move on from a world that tolerates clingfilmed coconuts and shrink wrapped baked beans."

She went on: "If we had less unnecessary packaging it would cut costs and lead to lower prices at the tills. When packaging is sent to landfill, it's expensive for taxpayers and damaging for the environment. Supermarkets need to up their game so it's easier for people to do their bit to help the environment. Taxpayers won't want to see their money going towards paying landfill taxes and EU fines when council tax could be reduced instead." I couldn't agree more.

At my own home, we have a compost heap, and, living in Oxford, our glass and plastic bottles are collected for recycling, as well as cardboard, tins and all kinds of paper. The experience of my family is that that the stuff which ends up in the wheelie-bin is not a lot more than being made up of packaging materials - that and the bones of animals which have been boiled for stock. And, when we have a separate food collection, which the City Council is, the residual stuff will comprise virtually nothing but food packaging.

Yet fortnight after fortnight, our wheelie-bin is full of this stuff. So much of it avoidable, but only if the supermarkets decide it is so, and/or if we change to buying from retailers who provide much less packaging, and more easily recyclable packaging where it has to be used - notably farmers' markets and the Gloucester Green and the Covered Market in Oxford.

The cost of landfill taxes which we, the county council, expect to pay over the three years 2008-2011 is £20.7 million. By any reckoning, this is disproportionately made up of supermarket packaging, and should be reducing. But the evidence of the LGA study is that it is not. And there are implications about the size of incinerator we need.

Though the supermarkets have tried rather pathetically to defend themselves against the criticisms of Cllr Eaton and the LGA, it is clear that they are now the biggest blocker on the road to reduced waste. So, what can we in Oxfordshire be doing about it?

On the county council website, there is already some useful advice on reducing waste of this kind, and of course there are links to the LGA website which now spell out which supermarkets produce the least, and the most recyclable, packaging. Cllr Belson said this morning in answer to a question from me that the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership does not have any specific targets on this. But Oxfordshire Waste Partnership does have the "Savvy Shopping Campaign", mentioned on its website. This is aimed at changing householders' shopping habits. "Supermarket packaging waste is becoming an increasing area of concern to residents. A comprehensive savvy shopping campaign would build upon the waste reduction pack and reusable bag to create habit and lifestyle changing behaviours in our residents."

These are the right thoughts and the right words, but what about the action to make a difference? Who here has heard about the "Savvy Shopper campaign"? How many others in Oxfordshire have heard about it? We need to give this campaign a big push on its way. I would be happy to accept Cllr Harvey's amendment, but not Cllr Harris's as it removes any mention of farmers' markets.