Secretos envasados

The report finds that European supermarkets generally perform poorly in managing plastic pollution, with a mean score of 13.1% across transparency, commitments, and policy support. While some UK and Irish chains like Aldi score higher, many others show minimal transparency and a preference for voluntary commitments over systemic changes like reuse and mandatory deposit systems. The analysis highlights instances of greenwashing, where plastic waste collected in stores was exported and illegally dumped in Turkey.

• European supermarkets demonstrate very low overall performance in tackling plastic pollution, with a mean total score of 13.1% across transparency, commitments, and policy support. Only Aldi in the UK (65.3%) and Aldi in Ireland (61%) scored above 60%, while 14 chains, including Carrefour in Spain and Metro in Ukraine, received zero points.
• Transparency regarding plastic footprints is critically low, with 82% of evaluated chains failing to provide basic information on their plastic footprint. Furthermore, 82% of companies stated they have no recycled content in their packaging, and the average score for packaging reuse was only 5.1%.
• Supermarket commitments to reduce plastic are largely unambitious, particularly regarding reuse and refill systems, which scored a mean of only 3.3%. The report argues that supermarkets prioritize recyclability and voluntary pledges over the waste hierarchy's priority of prevention and reuse.
• There is widespread opposition or lack of support for mandatory government policies. Only five supermarkets (Aldi in Ireland, Denmark, and the UK; Lidl in the UK; and BioCoop in France) firmly support a comprehensive Deposit Return System for all beverage packaging materials.
• Performance varies significantly by country and even within the same corporate group across different borders. UK supermarkets had the highest average score (39.6%), while those in Spain, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Estonia averaged below 10%. For example, Aldi Süd scored over 60% in the UK and Ireland but only 11% in Austria.
• The report identifies cases of greenwashing, noting that some supermarkets promote recycling schemes that result in waste being exported to third countries. Specifically, plastic collected by Tesco and Sainsbury's in the UK was exported to Turkey, where it was found to be illegally dumped and burned.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2022). Secretos envasados. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Underwraps-Spanish-ExecSum.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Secretos envasados. 2022. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Underwraps-Spanish-ExecSum.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Secretos envasados |date=May 2022 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Underwraps-Spanish-ExecSum.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2022secretos, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Secretos envasados}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Underwraps-Spanish-ExecSum.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }