Lidl next to vac pack mince after Sainsbury's 'mush' complaints

Lidl is the latest supermarket to denote it volition commencement vac-packing mince to usage little integrative and treble its support life.

An anti-plastic radical criticised the determination from hard integrative trays to brushed film, saying this would not spell successful astir household recycling collections.

Lidl said its caller vac packs could beryllium taken to recycling postulation points.

It said the packaging would usage 63% little integrative and widen the mince's support beingness from 8 to 16 days. The "easy peel film" besides meant customers "don't person to interaction the earthy meat", it said.

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of run radical A Plastic Planet, said meat-soiled brushed plastics were "never going to beryllium recycled into thing useful." She said she thought astir radical would enactment them into wide discarded alternatively than taking them to recycling points.

Ms Sutherland added: "When truthful galore different earthy materials exist, it is inexcusable to support pushing integrative and retailers request to earnestly see the reputational risks."

Environmental run radical Wrap said integrative bags and wrapping could beryllium recycled astatine much than 6,000 places crossed the UK. It has a recycling locator to find your nearest one.

Retailers are progressively looking for ways to marque their products much environmentally-friendly and sustainable.

Fruit portion marque Robinsons this week announced it was trialling selling a carton successful Tesco made of 89% plant-based materials. It said its 500ml ace spot squash made 60 drinks with 85% little integrative per service than its 1 litre treble ore bottle. Meanwhile, John Lewis has said each the leather utilized successful its ain statement sofas and chairs volition travel from British farms that exclusively proviso Waitrose beef.

But erstwhile the packs appeared successful the supermarket's fridges immoderate shoppers expressed their distaste connected societal media.

One said the nutrient present resembled "a rectangle of mushed disconnected cuts" and different described it arsenic looking similar "someone's kidney".

Others complained that sucking the aerial retired of the mince packaging squashed it unneurotic and made it hard to navigator with.

Sainsbury's caput of caller food, Richard Crampton, told the BBC successful April: "It's precisely the aforesaid mince...but much compressed...so we bash request customers to navigator it somewhat differently."

He said vacuum packed nutrient was communal successful the EU and US arsenic good arsenic look boxes successful the UK, and helium would not beryllium amazed if different supermarkets followed suit.

Shyam Unarket, Lidl GB's caput of liable sourcing and ethical trade, said the alteration was portion of Lidl's program to trim its own-label integrative packaging by 40% by 2025, helium said.

He said switching to vac packed mince would chopped much than 250 tonnes of integrative from packaging a year.

"However, we besides recognise the important relation that integrative plays successful our regular lives," helium said. "By ensuring that immoderate caller packaging is recyclable, we'll beryllium capable to assistance forestall integrative contamination successful our environment."