#EndDoublePackaging: Your photos can put an end to double packaging

Overpackaging is a growing concern for our environment. Most frustrating is double packaging: when an extra, unnecessary layer of paper or plastic is put around a packaged product to group them together and sell more. To put an end to this profit-driven packaging madness, Canal It Up, Proper Strandlopers, Gents Milieufront and Fair Resource Foundation have joined forces to launch the End Double Packaging campaign. With this campaign, we are calling on consumers to report cases of overpackaging and double packaging to Fost Plus, the organisation representing the packaging industry in Belgium. In addition, we also call on consumers to avoid buying products in double packaging. With this campaign, we hope to reach producers and supermarkets so that they take responsibility for a more sustainable way of packaging products. The message is simple: when consumers see a double-packaged product in the supermarket, take a photo of it and send it to Fost Plus's form. In addition, consumers can also share the double packaging they encounter online using the hashtag #EndDoublePackaging. The organisation Canal It Up, which works towards cleaner waterways in Brussels, did extensive research and found that Colruyt is the biggest polluter of the Brussels canals. Following this research, Colruyt Group claims to be working on innovative solutions to tackle plastic pollution. The Canal It Up team decided to put the retailer to the test. They went shopping in the Colruyt of Jette and found 171 products with double packaging. These extra plastic packagings have only one function: to sell more products. These multipacks are made by Colruyt itself; producers deliver their products without these extra layers of plastic. However, Colruyt is not the only supermarket using double packaging; examples of double packaging have also been found in other supermarkets, as can also be seen in the campaign video below. Examples of double packaging found at Colruyt in Jette. Apart from the redundant use of plastic, overpackaging brings a number of other problems: Plastic contains additives that pose health risks. Microplastics have been found in organs, including lungs, liver and even in placentas. Plastic contributes to global warming: plastic production in 2019 emitted as much carbon as 189 coal-fired power plants. Globally, 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually, equivalent to the weight of the entire world population, and production is increasing. Double packaging like Colruyt's can lead to extra food waste by encouraging customers to buy more than they need and then throw it away, contributing to the 58 million tonnes wasted annually in Europe, 54% of which is in households. One of the reasons for food waste is excessive purchasing. We have the power! Consumers have the power to change retailer behaviour. A recent report by Recycling Netwerk Benelux on the prevention and reuse of packaging waste in Belgium identified empowered consumers as a powerful force. This campaign is a joint action by:

Overpackaging is a growing concern for our environment. Most frustrating is double packaging: when an extra, unnecessary layer of paper or plastic is put around a packaged product to group them together and sell more. To put an end to this profit-driven packaging madness, Canal It Up, Proper Strandlopers, Gents Milieufront and Fair Resource Foundation have joined forces to launch the End Double Packaging campaign. With this campaign, we are calling on consumers to report cases of overpackaging and double packaging to Fost Plus, the organisation representing the packaging industry in Belgium. In addition, we also call on consumers to avoid buying products in double packaging.

With this campaign, we hope to reach producers and supermarkets so that they take responsibility for a more sustainable way of packaging products. The message is simple: when consumers see a double-packaged product in the supermarket, take a photo of it and send it to Fost Plus's form. In addition, consumers can also share the double packaging they encounter online using the hashtag #EndDoublePackaging.

The organisation Canal It Up, which works towards cleaner waterways in Brussels, did extensive research and found that Colruyt is the biggest polluter of the Brussels canals. Following this research, Colruyt Group claims to be working on innovative solutions to tackle plastic pollution. The Canal It Up team decided to put the retailer to the test. They went shopping in the Colruyt of Jette and found 171 products with double packaging. These extra plastic packagings have only one function: to sell more products. These multipacks are made by Colruyt itself; producers deliver their products without these extra layers of plastic. However, Colruyt is not the only supermarket using double packaging; examples of double packaging have also been found in other supermarkets, as can also be seen in the campaign video below.

examples of double packaging found at Colruyt in Jette

Apart from the redundant use of plastic, overpackaging brings a number of other problems:

Plastic contains additives that pose health risks.

Microplastics have been found in organs, including lungs, liver and even in placentas.

Plastic contributes to global warming: plastic production in 2019 emitted as much carbon as 189 coal-fired power plants.

Globally, 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually, equivalent to the weight of the entire world population, and production is increasing.

Double packaging like Colruyt's can lead to extra food waste by encouraging customers to buy more than they need and then throw it away, contributing to the 58 million tonnes wasted annually in Europe, 54% of which is in households. One of the reasons for food waste is excessive purchasing.

We have the power!

Consumers have the power to change retailer behaviour. A recent report by Recycling Netwerk Benelux on the prevention and reuse of packaging waste in Belgium identified empowered consumers as a powerful group to demand a reduction in packaging. We encourage everyone in Belgium to report overpackaging or double packaging via the Fost Plus website, and of course to avoid buying products in double packaging.,

This campaign is a joint action by:

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