BRIT’S biggest supermarket packaging gripe is ‘easy peel’ corners – that are impossible to open.
A poll of 2,000 adults found fruit and veg in excessive plastic, non-recyclable packaging and ring pulls coming off in your hand are the other top annoyances.
Some 30% can’t stand when fruit or vegetables are packaged in loads of plastics, with 25% admitting to not buying a product because it’s wrapped in so much of it.
Meanwhile 28% are peeved by products that aren’t recyclable.
A spokesperson from DS Smith, which commissioned the research, said: “Packaging is there to look after what’s inside – no-one wants to be left thwarted, unable to get at it.
“And clearly some of the wider gripes crop up when it feels like there is excessive plastic in play, and if packaging doesn’t appear to be readily recyclable.
“Those are all things that can be remedied – waste can be designed out from the start, and paper-based materials can often be much more readily recyclable.”
Products being packaged in unnecessary layers, when you have to open a packet with scissors, and when packaging makes the product look bigger than it is, were other peeves that made the top 10.
These frustrations leave 44% less likely to or never likely to buy it again.
One in five (21%) have come across unclear recycling messaging on packaging – and respondents said if they did, a third would put it in the general waste.
While 32% would simply guess and shove it in the recycling bin.
Almost a quarter were irritated most by excessive plastics – with two such annoyances encountered every week.
When it comes to buying fruit, 17% are open to using paper bags – and only five per cent were comfortable with plastic punnets.
And 38% were concerned with the amount of plastic in packaging when thinking about what to buy in the supermarket, which emerged as a more important factor than the origin of a product or how recyclable it is.
Half feel guilty if something is packaged excessively in any plastics, according to the OnePoll data.
But 24% were willing to pay up to 33p more for an item if it were packaged in a more ‘eco-friendly’ way, and 22% believe that recycling instructions on supermarket packaging is unclear.
A spokesperson from DS Smith added: “A lot has changed in the last few years and there is a lot less plastic in supermarkets these days.
1. Meat packaging that has a corner to peel – but is impossible to peel open
2. When a pull on a tin comes off and you can’t open it
3. When you can’t open something without scissors or a knife
4. When fruit or vegetables are packaged in loads of plastic
5. When packaging is not recyclable
6. When packaging makes the product look much bigger than it is
7. When items are overpackaged in unnecessary layers
8. When packaging is difficult to recycle
9. Items that aren’t resealable
10. When you can’t see the product inside
“We have removed more than a billion pieces of plastic from supermarket shelves and supply chains in the last four years, and evidently there is still plenty of opportunity for brands to keep finding ways to reduce and replace plastic.”
