Sharpak fish packaging awarded the Retail Industry Award for Sustainable Initiative Of The Year 2020

Sharpak, a subsidiary of Groupe Guillin is proud to share the announcement by LIDL GB that its new fish packaging, manufactured by Sharpak with the inclusion of Prevented Ocean Plastic (POP) has been awarded the Retail Industry Award for Sustainable Initiative Of The Year 2020.

The fish packaging, used for fresh fish sold in Lidl GB stores, made by Sharpak, includes Prevented Ocean Plastic (supplied by Bantam Materials) a project that has been set up to reduce ocean plastic pollution at scale in countries at risk, whilst supporting local economies.

This commitment to responsibly produce packaging with an onward life cycle helps to prevent a minimum of 60 tonnes of plastic from leaching into local waterways, food chains and especially the ocean, every single year.

The company says, not only is this measure preventative, but the plastic can be recycled after use, making plastic its own resource. 

Sharpak and Groupe Guillin’s exclusive supply contract for POP material is a meaningful and substantial action to promote recycling and the use of recycled content in packaging and to help educate consumers that plastic is a valuable resource, not to be littered into nature, and will prevent the equivalent of tens of millions of water bottles endangering the environment every month.

Patrick Gautier, UK Division Director for the Group, said: “I’d like to thank the Retail Industry Awards Judging Panel for the recognition of this real and positive action to reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution, and help educate consumers that plastic is a valuable resource, not to be littered into nature. Following rigorous due diligence carried out by LIDL GB and excellent work by our sales and technical teams we were able to work collaboratively with their packing company Copernus to move them to a recyclable mono rPET structure solution that includes Prevented Ocean Plastic. It’s personally and professionally rewarding to know that following the efforts and the vision of Lidl GB to adopt Prevented Ocean Plastic this now forms part of their sustainability strategy.”

Raffi Schieir, Director of Bantam Materials, the supplier of Prevented Ocean Plastic, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with Lidl GB, Sharpak and Group GUILLIN and to have this innovation recognised.  The market leading POP programme is focused on stopping plastic reaching and polluting our oceans. By realising the value of plastic bottles, we can improve our environment and support coastal communities providing a reliable income option. Plastic recycling is a rapidly growing industry and we’re proud to be working at the forefront, setting standards and helping to create a closed loop plastic economy.”