Greggs, a beloved bakery chain in the United Kingdom, is under fire after a customer noticed that one of its sandwich wrappers is labeled as non-recyclable.
What happened?
A Redditor recently posted a picture of Greggs packaging warning customers to not recycle a part of its sandwich wrapping — despite a note on the back encouraging people to recycle whatever they can to keep items from ending up in landfills.
"Greggs: Please recycle what you can, but don't recycle this bit of wrapping on your sandwich," the original poster wrote.
One commenter said the packaging appeared to be lined with plastic similar to wax paper — so recycling it would not only be futile but would also complicate the recycling process.
"The same reason why you can't recycle receipts then," one commenter said (citing a concern for many plastic-infused paper receipts). "What utter b******. It isn't even made from recycled material to begin with. Like, at least that'd be something."
Why is the waste concerning?
The controversy surrounding Greggs' sandwich wrappers shines a light on the broader issue of corporate responsibility in reducing waste.
Businesses are among the largest contributors to the world's waste, which includes a significant amount of paper, cardboard, and electronic waste. By implementing better waste management practices, companies can significantly reduce their negative environmental impact.
Furthermore, packaging that cannot be recycled contributes to the mounting global plastic waste crisis, which has significant environmental impacts, including contaminated water and the deaths of wildlife.
Is Greggs doing anything about this?
Greggs has made public commitments to sustainability, aiming for all of its packaging to be recyclable (in some way) by 2025. The company has also introduced initiatives to reduce carbon pollution, such as reducing plastic use in its stores.
However, the presence of non-recyclable sandwich wrappers shows that these efforts are not yet comprehensive.
Greggs is also working to educate customers on proper recycling practices, but this instance demonstrates the challenges in achieving fully sustainable packaging solutions.
Other sustainability initiatives include running operations entirely on clean, non-polluting energy by next year.
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