The Menu from Waitrose range of prepared meals has been relaunched with a full redesign and packaging update for all of the 49 products within the range.
The width of the sleeves on the outside of the products has been decreased, resulting in a reduction of 33 tonnes of packaging per year, which is equivalent to a 20% overall weight saving.
It is also the first time that a retailer has introduced aluminium trays, lacquered internally and externally, for ready meals. This means that customers can cook and serve the meals in the same tray and are still able to recycle it after use.
The Good to Go range of 190 snacks and sandwiches has also been relaunched, with packaging reductions totalling 25 tonnes per year. Changes include increasing the size of the clear window on sandwiches to allow better visibility of the product, cutting 11 tonnes of packaging a year. Pre-printed bags for fruit portions were also developed, saving 60% of the weight by taking off the label.
And, after being introduced for mince and diced meat in 2010, ‘flow wrap’ packaging has now been gradually rolled out for all meat, including lamb and pork. By removing the plastic tray in the packs of pork and lamb, Waitrose will cut back on 38 tonnes of packaging a year, which is a 70% saving.
“We are always working hard to reduce packaging where we can, to decrease the waste reaching our customers’ bins and ensure they can recycle as much as possible,” said Waitrose packaging and reprographics manager Karen Graley. “Relaunching a range is a fantastic opportunity to do this, and cutting packaging by nearly 100 tonnes a year is a great result to have achieved on our journey to halving packaging by 2016.”
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