Sainsbury’s Bakery Packaging Overhaul Set to Remove 560 Tonnes of Plastic

Sainsbury’s has announced a major sustainability initiative in its bakery department, which is expected to eliminate 560 tonnes of plastic annually from its packaging. As part of its commitment to reducing its environmental impact, the UK-based retailer is shifting from plastic to recyclable paper packaging across its in-store bakery items.

The new packaging rollout, which started in September 2024, affects products like croissants, bagels, and buns. Sainsbury’s aims to make all of its own-brand packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025, aligning with broader industry efforts to tackle plastic waste.

All doughnuts and pastries previously in plastic clam-shell style packaging are switching to cardboard and paper packaging – a 90% plastic reduction – which will reduce plastic packaging by 414 tonnes annually. Doughnuts are switching to card boxes with a small window and twin-pack pastries, as well as croissants and cinnamon swirls, are moving to paper bags.

In-store bakery bread will see up to a 60% reduction in plastic through the removal of full plastic bags across loaves, baguettes and batons. These have been replaced with recyclable paper bags with a plastic window, saving around 152 tonnes of plastic a year. Customers can currently expect to see the changes in all stores over the coming months.

The window on the new packaging can be easily separated from the card box and paper bag and recycled at any front-of-store recycling points at Sainsbury’s supermarkets. The card and paper can be recycled at home in kerbside recycling.

In addition to environmental benefits, the new packaging is designed to maintain product quality and freshness, ensuring no compromise for consumers. With this move, Sainsbury’s continues to push its sustainability agenda, offering both practical and eco-friendly solutions for the packaging industry.

This initiative is the latest in a series of packaging innovations aimed at reducing plastic in food production and retail sectors, presenting a case study for other retailers in the shift toward greener packaging solutions.