To boycott Sainsbury’s for their mince packaging!!

Where I am soft plastic can be recycled but that relies on me going to a shop and then remembering to bring soft plastic. And also finding space in my house to store soft plastics before I go to the shop. Hard plastics just get put out fortnightly with the recycling and is collected from my house.

I know which is more convenient and then gets recycled more

My shopping, my choice.

Nice in theory but plastic recycling capacity in the UK is reducing as it’s still cheaper to ship plastic waste, 600 000 tonnes of it a year, abroad. We know that a decent proportion of this is dumped in the ocean, burnt, landfilled. The stuff that is recycled people don’t want to buy. How many of us loathe sweaty plastic clothes made from recycled bottles?

Can the plastic recycling industry be saved? www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv8e0prg9o

It's disgusting. The texture and taste are impacted by the process.

It is an evolving process

• Increased investment:
• As the government has announced plans to bring soft plastics into mainstream collection by 2027, there is expected to be more investment in recycling technology.
• Improved collection:
• Trials are underway to add soft plastic collections to curbside services, with the goal of widespread implementation by March 2027.
• Growth in the market:
• Collecting more soft plastic will incentivize recyclers to invest in the necessary technology to process it into higher-quality products, supporting a more circular economy.

Recycling is when it’s reused. It is incinerated. Anyway. People are allowed to dislike it because it’s disgusting.

Collected soft plastics will be incinerated for energy recovery, not recycled into new products. In this respect it’s not actually different to black bin waste.

What part aren’t you getting. It can! It is being recycled and collected from homes and stores,this is due to increase. Soft plastic can and is recycled.In our area all plastics bar crisp packets and netting are being collected for recycling . It’s great.

And you couldn’t recycle the film on the old packaging.

Can I make a suggestion for beef mince aficionados: try chicken mince.

• It’s nearly half the price
• It’s almost 50% less calories for 5% chicken mince vs 10% beef mince
• It has more protein per 100g
• The carbon footprint is a fraction (1/5th or less) of beef mince.
• It’s reasonably tasteless in a ragu, cottage pie or similar saucy meat dish.

We like the Waitrose version.

Yes Waitrose so some kind of blown up plastic thing.

Shame on M&S

Absolutely, but I’m very tired of hearing how people’s bread/biscuit/etc wrappers are being transformed into new products when it’s almost certainly (70% plus) being incinerated.

We need to be very clear that soft and coloured plastic has very little re-use value and despite loads of extremely clever and dedicated people researching and trying to commercialise it, we can’t make the re-use case stack up.

Waitrose no longer have the tray nor shrink wrapping & their mince is fine. I doubt gram for gram their plastic weighs more.

What part aren’t you getting? At least the old hard plastic could be recycled. This can’t

So less plastic is clearly better.

Well done Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets acting responsibility. M&S and Tesco I’ll continue to boycott until they up their game.

It’s still incinerated for energy recovery though, same as general household waste. There aren’t any effective recycling options for soft plastics. Recycling would be better termed as “reprocessing”.

The only recyclables that have any value are glass, aluminium, tins, cardboard and some clear hard plastics.

It's the same in Asda now so I've stopped buying it. I presume sales must have gone down.

Waitrose have reduced packaging without being vacuum packed so I get from there now when I'm passing. Very expensive but I've had a few money off vouchers since I started buying it. And I don't eat much meat anyway so don't mind paying for what I like.

To be completely honest I once bought from a butchers and didn't like that either. So maybe my tastes are just ingrained.

Incorrect. Some plastic packaging is recycled and (there are initiatives to increase), some goes to landfill here and some abroad. None of which are ok and a reduction in the overall use of plastic is very much needed.

i have never liked sainsbury's mince and hate the look of the new packaging.

No, it’s not. Our recycling gets shipped abroad anyway and sold! Changing mince packaging won’t make one iota of a difference, but sure. People can’t be upset by their food being a horrible texture now.

I only buy the 20% fat version (because the flavour comes from the fat) and use only the teeniest spray of oil to cook it, then while I’m browning it, i use a flat wooden spatula, and chop into it. TBH I have noticed no difference, except when making burgers, where, because of the compressed nature of the raw material, these actually turn out better, and when barbecued, don’t turn into giant meatballs!

Wow with the amount of time spent frothing over mince packaging you’d think a simple internet search would be possible.

Plastic consumption contributes to global warming primarily through the extensive use of fossil fuels for its production and the greenhouse gases released during its entire lifecycle, from extraction to disposal. The production process, which converts fossil fuels into plastic, generates significant carbon emissions, and when plastic is incinerated or breaks down, it releases more greenhouse gases. Additionally, the pollution of oceans with plastic is thought to disrupt their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, and climate change itself can increase plastic pollution.

Lifecycle of plastic and greenhouse gas emissions
Fossil fuel dependency:
Nearly all plastic is made from fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal. Extracting and processing these fuels for plastic production releases greenhouse gases.

Production and transportation:
The manufacturing and transportation of plastics through their supply chain are major sources of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Disposal:
When plastic waste is incinerated, it releases stored carbon from the fossil fuels it was derived from, contributing to the greenhouse effect. Landfills also release greenhouse gases as plastics slowly decompose over hundreds of years.

Ocean pollution:
Plastic that pollutes marine environments can impact the ocean's capacity to act as a natural carbon sink, and a warming climate can lead to more plastic waste generation.

The impact of plastic on oil demand
An "escape valve" for oil:
With increasing pressure to move away from fossil fuels, the oil industry is heavily promoting plastic production as a way to maintain demand for oil.

Expected growth:
The demand for plastic is growing rapidly, and if current trends continue, plastic production is projected to triple by 2060.

Increased oil consumption:
A significant portion of the world's oil is already used for plastic production, and this reliance is expected to grow substantially in the coming decades.

Could people go to butchers instead? (Our local one is closing down and it’s so sad as they were brilliant and only slightly more expensive than the supermarket but right next to a supermarket so people bypassed them)

How

I haven’t bought mince for months for two reasons, the vacuum packaging, and also the price is ridiculous.

Plastic consumption is contributing.

That’s incorrect and so ignorant.