The High Street giant received an award for “best packaging innovation leading to a significant reduction in household waste” on Wednesday.
 M&S; was recognised for reducing the environmental impact of packaging by using less plastic |
Conferred at the annual Starpack packaging awards in London, the award recognised M&S;'s new design of ready-meal casing that produces 30% less waste.
M&S; has replaced some of the plastic in its packaging with tiny bubbles of air, making them lighter and safer to handle when hot, without reducing their strength.
“Ground-breaking”
Mark Barthel, special advisor for the Waste and Resources Action Programme, which sponsored the award, said: “This ground-breaking design has set a standard which we hope other retailers and brand owners will follow.
“It is a great example of innovation which saves money, improves the consumer experience and reduces the environmental impact of packaging”, he added.
The award was part of a category which recognised efforts to cut domestic waste sent to landfill.
Marks and Spencer was recognised a second time on Wednesday for using 50% recycled plastic for bottles and dishes (see letsrecycle.com story)
Amazon was praised for its recycled cardboard postal pack and Youngs & Co Brewers were recognised for their portabottle carry-pack, which uses 15% less cardboard than other designs.
Minimisation
The awards were conferred on the same day that Envirowise, the government's waste minimisation initiative, called on more businesses to reduce their packaging production.
Dr Martin Gibson, project director at Envirowise, said: “Systematic approach to optimising packaging design can help businesses work towards more rigid legislative standards and often results in a product that is easier and cheaper to make.”
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He added: “Our experience has shown that most businesses can achieve significant savings through straightforward resource efficiency measures, without compromising the integrity of their end product.”
Envirowise recommended that businesses design-out unnecessary layers pf packaging, consider shrink-wrap in place of cardboard boxes and re-use packaging wherever possible.
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