Supermarkets announce commitment to reducing food and plastic waste

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has announced today that they are investing £1bn to commit to an extensive plastic and food waste reduction initiative, with the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.

This follows the recent news that Tesco aim to remove 350 tonnes of plastic a year from the environment by removing plastic wrapping from its multipack tins, whilst Asda trials a sustainability store, allowing shoppers to refill their own containers with Asda products to cut down on packaging.

With three of the UK’s largest food retailers making major commitments to such initiatives, environmental concerns and sustainability is quickly becoming one of the most important considerations for retailers in every sector, especially grocers.

Will Broome, CEO and Founder of Ubamarket, understands the importance of sustainability better than most. Ubamarket are pioneers of mobile technology, helping traditional retailers to compete with e-commerce by streamlining and hyper-personalising their shopping experience. In doing so, Ubamarket have proved that mobile technology can help retailers towards achieving their sustainability goals:

“It’s extremely encouraging to see some of Britain’s food retail giants taking major steps towards creating a more sustainable future for the food retail sector, and retail across the board. It is imperative that other retailers take heed of this and work quickly to establish their own sustainability goals and action plan. Not only is it the right thing to do for the environment, but sustainable retailers are likely going to see increased profits and success long term, as shoppers become more eco-friendly and the government introduces further legislation.

Implementing mobile technology, such as that provided by Ubamarket, is one effective way for retailers to get ahead of the curve – not only can it improve in-store efficiency and provide access to useful data for the retailer, but Ubamarket’s Plastic Alerts feature allows customers to shop according to the recyclability and environmental footprint of different products, and enables the customer to scan packaging for information on whether it can be widely recycled or not. We have also shown that customers spend 21% more on their shop using Ubamarket’s technology, but less of their shopping goes to waste as they purchase more of what they consume most.

It is my hope that we see more sustainability initiatives such as those announced by Tesco and Asda in the coming weeks and months, and I strongly encourage retailers to look into the benefits of mobile technology, for sustainability and increased success.”

Keep up to date with the latest Norfolk news and events here