Packaging - still a concern

The last few years have seen a substantial rise in media coverage and public concern about the ethical aspects of the products we buy. While issues like fair trade and animal welfare are high profile and emotive, recent research found that packaging is the issue that is of concern to most British consumers.

From a list of product-focused environmental and ethical issues, half (51%) say they are personally concerned about the amount of packaging - the top response and significantly more prominent than issues like Fair Trade (37%) and animal welfare (33%).

Close to four in five (79%) believe products are over packaged, while a similar proportion (82%) agrees with the statement “packaging is a major environmental problem”. Both of these views have hardened since 1997 when 68% and 71%, respectively, felt that products were over packaged and that packaging was a major environmental problem.

Consumers’ top of mind associations with packaging are divided, recognising both the positive aspects of packaging (particularly product protection and hygiene) as well as the negative (particularly the amount of material used, difficulty of disposal and environmental harm). On balance, negative associations currently outweigh the positive (74% to 64%).

Although concern about packaging spans across consumer groups, it is notably higher among those aged 35-64, among mid and higher income groups, broadsheet readers and among women more than men. These trends are in-line with others showing concern for environmental issues is higher among these demographics.

However, headline concern about packaging needs to be tempered by several important qualifications:

Consumers are aware of the benefits of packaging, particularly in terms of product protection and hygiene - 85% and 84%, respectively, consider these important, ranking alongside the importance of packaging that is both easily recyclable (92%) and made from recycled content (91%).

In-store consumer behaviour lags behind general concern - only a minority habitually (i.e. “all of the time”) undertake behaviours such as using re-usable bags (39%), buying loose products wherever possible (17%), looking for information on the label about recycling (10%) and avoiding products with too much packaging (9%).

Consumers’ perceptions of over packaging are focused on specific products, not across the board – Easter Eggs top the list (59% think they are over packaged), followed closely by electronics equipment (57%), pre-packed fruit and vegetables (41%) and ready meals (36%). By contrast, there are very few concerns about packaging in relation to breakfast cereals (14%), chocolate (11%), drinks (10%), tins/cans of food (6%) or wine (2%).

Packaging is more of a concern at home than in store - 41% say they think mostly about packaging at home (i.e. when they have to dispose of it), compared to 19% who say in store (i.e. at the point of sale). Reflecting the focus on the home, many households want more materials collected for recycling to help them deal with packaging – most notably plastics. Ability to recycle is closely linked to attitudes to packaging, with those seeking a wider collection of packaging materials most likely to say they are both concerned about packaging and unsure of how to deal with it.

In summary, while packaging is the most mentioned concern, and the majority of associations with packaging are negative, there is still a gap between this concern and in-store behaviour, with the issue of packaging generally becoming more salient when trying to dispose of it rather than when buying it. On the positive side, about one third of British consumers say that most or all of the time they avoid buying products with too much packaging, and actively look for products with environmentally friendly packaging.

Methodological note:

These findings are drawn from a research project conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Valpak and INCPEN (The Industry Council for Packaging & the Environment). The research was carried out among a representative sample of 1,010 adults in Great Britain aged 16+. Interviews were conduced face-to-face and the in-home in October 2008 using a random location quota sampling methodology.