The CLCV conducted a large survey in which it listed the packaging of over 250 food products and criticized the excessive use of plastic in the amount of food.
The alarm is going off. While the anti-waste law, passed in 2020, establishes targets for reducing packaging – particularly the presence of plastic – around food products, the consumer association CLCV (consumption, housing, living environment) conducted a thorough survey of 252 products across nine stores between February and mid-May 2022. The first lesson is that some packaging is excessively large in comparison to the amount of food. In other words, these packages have an excessive amount of space. This study focuses on specific cereals, seeds, dried fruits, biscuits, acres, and even sausage brands. Several packets of bacon, granola, or even almonds could have up to 55% vacuum in them. The CLCV even uses images of food products' empty spaces to demonstrate its data.
Also see: The Importance of Fighting Food Waste
According to the CLCV, many products would be surrounded by “useless” packaging, such as “plastic film around cans of tea, chocolates, or vegetables, cardboard sleeve around yogurts, compotes, or pizzas.” Salads from Daunat or Sodebo, Super U pizzas, compotes, or certain teas are thus identified as having an excessively large container. Similarly certain cheeses or can batches are “overpacked”. ” Since January 1, 2022, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables must be sold in stores without plastic packaging or labels. (…). However, packaged fruits and vegetables are still abundant on store shelves in April 2022. the investigation's specifics include, for example, peppers, carrots, pot-au-feu vegetables, Chinese cabbage, pomelo, sweet potatoes, and zucchini.
“Sorting systems with reinforcement»
Even if alternatives such as packaging in cardboard trays or paper bags are welcomed. “The consumer can adopt good practices: favor products without over-packaging, avoid portioned packaging, think about bulk, and reuse packaging when possible,” says the consumer association. Certain plastics are also not recyclable, according to the CLCV. While requesting that “the public authorities strengthen sorting systems in public places to capture nomadic packaging and set up educational activities for consumers to improve the collection,”
