WWF Basket: Packaging

Packaging plays a vital role in our food system yet material sourcing and production and the risk of waste leaking into nature can have huge impacts.

We need to see a shift away from single use packaging, as part of a shift to a circular economy focused on reducing, reusing and recycling packaging.

We need packaging materials, from production through to disposal, to have minimal impact on the environment. Several WWF Basket metrics have been set out to track this.

Packaging - Outcomes and Measures

The WWF Basket tracks data on the removal of own-label packaging, measured by unit. This is because, whatever material is used to package an item, it will have an environmental impact, so it is important to keep a focus on overall removal wherever possible. Moving away from single-use packaging towards reusable, refillable packaging systems will play a key role in driving down single-use packaging and reducing overall material consumption.

The WWF Basket also tracks data on the percentage of own-label packaging that is recyclable, by weight, with the ambition that 100% of this packaging is recyclable by 2025. This is because packaging needs to be recyclable so it can have another life as part of a circular economy and avoid ending up in landfill, incineration or in the environment.

In addition, the WWF Basket tracks the percentage of packaging that contains recycled content or is sustainably sourced. We have identified this metric because of the need to move to a more circular economy, so packaging materials should contain as much recycled content as possible, to drive down the use of virgin materials. Where available, materials should be sustainably sourced to independently verified standards.

WWF Basket Packaging Outcomes and Retailer Progress Measures

Outcome 1: 100% recyclable packaging

Retailer Progress Measure:
- % packaging that is recyclable
© WWF / Yunaidi Joepoet

Outcome 2: 40% reduction in material use

Retailer Progress Measure:
- % reduction in packaging by weight
© Global Warming Images / WWF

Outcome 3: All materials sustainably sourced and use of recycled content maximised

Retailer Progress Measure:
- % packaging that is recycled content or sustainably sourced

Wide angle view of a conveyor belt in a plastics recycling facility carrying plastic waste to be recycled

Find out more

You can find out the latest WWF Basket data on packaging in our 2024 report, What's in Store for the Planet: the Impact of UK Shopping Baskets on Climate and Nature - 2024.

You can find out more about the WWF Basket ambition for packaging in the 2021 Blueprint for Action and WWF Basket Outcomes and Measures.

What's in Store for the Planet: The impact of UK Shopping Baskets on Climate and Nature 2024

Read the 2024 report

Resource Bank

Packaging Unwrapped

This report offers insights into the environmental impacts of UK packaging.

WWF’s Work on Packaging

Since the launch of the Basket Metric and the Retailers’ Commitment for nature, WWF has worked with retailers to highlight the global supply chain impacts of all packaging materials. We have also worked to ensure retailers start to consider the removal of single-use packaging, regardless of material, and highlighted the need for a shift towards reusable, refillable packaging systems.

We are encouraging retailers to support UNEP in delivering an ambitious, legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. To find out more about the impact of plastics click here.