Iceland go back on plastic pledge after fall in sales

After a loss in sales, Iceland has said there is still a long way to go where plastic pollution is concerned.

The frozen supermarket has revealed that it had to re-introduce plastic packaging across its bananas this summer, after their paper-alternative failed.

Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland, told the PA of the troubles that the supermarket had faced over the last year and said there was still a “mountain to climb” in finding clear and innovative solutions to Britain’s throwaway culture.

In response to the loss of sales due to plastic-free initiatives, Richard Walker said: “We can't do anything that will endanger the success of the business, because there's 25,000 jobs depending on it.”

Despite the problem of declining sales, the supermarket have said they are still committed to a sustainable future.

This week, Iceland are launching a new plastic-free banana initiative which will trial across 20 stores from July 24. They have also announced plans to introduce a new plastic-free greengrocer scheme which will focus on tackling pre-packed produce.

Richard Walker said: “We’ve still got a mountain to climb – and we’re still all on our own. No other supermarkets are following our lead.”

Iceland is known for their environmental views, last year they based their TV Christmas advert on the palm oil crisis and vowed to remove all palm oil from their own brand products.

However, early this year it was revealed that instead of removing palm oil from the food they just removed their own branding.

This week, the UK Government announced plans to become a global leader in innovation for sustainable plastics. Joining together with Businesses, they have committed to investing over £200 million in new and innovative solutions for the escalating plastic crisis.

Photograph: PA/Iceland