Getting drastic about plastic – with loaves from the sky

ANNA Lund, from Warrington, who runs a “no.more.plastic.fantastic” campaign took delivery of bread from the sky – to mark the switch of top selling loaves into a revolutionary new paper packaging.
Doing something “drastic about plastic”, Cheshire-based Roberts has reduced plastic in its bread bags by 53 per cent – switching its core ranges into sustainably sourced paper. It’s the first bakery in the UK to do so.
Dubbed the Bread Arrows, the drones performed an acrobatic display to mark the new paper bags hitting the shelves of 300 stores in Warrington and across the UK – giving the nation’s bread buyers an environmentally-friendly option.
Anna said: “I am passionate about taking plastic out of my life and spend a lot of time encouraging others to do the same. So, it’s great to see a bread manufacturer taking responsibility and making it easy for the people of Warrington to do the right thing.  It is so important to cut down on our plastic consumption – thank you Roberts Bakery for heading in the right direction.”
UK bakeries produce 10,700* tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging every year. Most goes straight to landfill or it must be taken to specialist recycling points. Roberts is the first bakery brand to come up with a bag that can be put into the paper or mixed recycling bin.
The bakery’s Innovation Director, Alison Ordonez says: “Plastic is an increasingly important topic for us all. This latest development represents a big shift in beginning to address the problems it poses in the bread industry. But it’s not an easy task. Delivering fresh bread – of the quality that our consumers love – in a paper bag rather than plastic, is more challenging because you need the ‘preserving’ layer of plastic to keep the bread fresh.”
The new bag has 53 per cent less plastic than before and is made from sustainably-sourced paper with a very thin poly prop coating to ensure that the loaves stay fresh.
Importantly, the cost of the loaves remains the same.
Supporting the switch, The Recycling Association’s chief executive Simon Ellin, said: “I welcome the progress made by Roberts bakery towards an eventual single material packaging solution for its bread. The team there has engaged with us on its plans to reduce the packaging from a predominantly plastic to paper-based option. It’s a great example of how manufacturing companies can work with the recycling supply chain to meet the needs of both.  I look forward to maintaining the relationship with Roberts bakery and supporting them in their aim of developing predominantly paper-based packing for their bread.”
Find Anna Lund on Instagram @no.more.plastic.fantastic.