Friends of the Earth Malta Joins Global Effort to Expose Supermarket Plastic packaging 

Today, plastic packaging is almost impossible to avoid in our supermarkets. Found in all shapes and sizes, it is present in virtually every aisle. How has a material invented just over a century ago become so deeply embedded in our everyday consumption habits ?
While plastic plays an important role in preserving food, providing access to a wide variety of products and helping meet strict hygiene standards, how can we ignore the harmful consequences of plastic on both human health and the environment ? It is estimated that we ingest the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of plastic every month. This overconsumption of plastic shows no signs of slowing down: by 2060, plastic production is expected to triple, leaving us with ever-increasing amounts of waste to manage.

Reducing our plastic consumption is therefore a matter of public interest. Supermarkets are a key place to take action, as they offer a significant number of products that are overpackaged in plastic, often single-use and difficult, if not impossible, to recycle.

To better understand how supermarkets contribute to plastic pollution and to identify the best solutions to reduce it, Friends of the Earth Malta took part in an audit on plastic packaging in supermarkets organised by the international group Break Free From Plastic (BFFP). This study brings together hundreds of volunteers across 27 countries, who have visited their local supermarkets with a questionnaire to collect data on in-store practices.

The findings from our audit were alarming: every aisle, without exception, contained plastic packaging, from fruit and vegetables to meat products, yogurts and beverages.
Some of this packaging could easily be avoided, such as the plastic wrapping around cucumbers or the packaging used for pre-cut fruit, when consumers could simply purchase whole fruit instead.

In the supermarket we visited in Qormi, the selection of pre-cut fruit was particularly extensive and strategically positioned before the fresh whole fruit section, making these heavily packaged products the first option consumers encountered.
We also observed that packaging made from recycled plastic or other recycled materials remains far too uncommon. Yet clearly and visibly informing consumers that packaging is made entirely or partially from recycled materials could represent an attractive selling point for certain products and encourage more sustainable purchasing decisions. 

The availability of bulk-purchase sections also remains insufficient, despite being an effective way to reduce packaging waste and a relatively feasible measure for supermarkets to implement. For example many markets elsewhere have bins of nuts and cereals, pastas etc. that can be packed into small paper bags, weighed and labeled with a price sticker.

Although these findings highlight the scale of the challenge ahead, they also demonstrate that practical solutions already exist and could be more widely adopted to significantly reduce plastic waste. For example we applaud the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS) introduced in Malta, which some countries in Europe still do not have.

By adopting these simple yet effective changes, supermarkets can play a decisive role in reducing plastic waste!