The Recycling Illusion: Councils, Supermarkets and the Public Trust Gap

This is the reality households face: overflowing packaging waste that could have been avoided if businesses took real accountability.

The role of online giants - Recycling Councils, Supermarkets and the Public Trust Gap

It isn’t just councils and supermarkets under the microscope. The rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon, Currys, Argos, Wayfair, ASOS, and John Lewis has transformed how we shop — and how much packaging ends up at our doorsteps.

Yes, some companies claim to be improving by using recycled or recyclable materials. But the reality for most households is still one of oversized boxes, unnecessary double-boxing, plastic fillers, and single-use bags. Even recyclable packaging often isn’t processed properly by local systems.

Do these businesses take serious accountability for how products are packed? It’s not just about reducing waste — it’s about balancing sustainability with safe, practical delivery for people at home. From fragile items arriving poorly wrapped to clothes arriving in layers of plastic, the gap between corporate promises and lived reality remains wide.

Across the UK, some councils are replacing traditional bins with recycling sacks. On paper, it sounds like a greener, more flexible solution. In practice, many people see it as another example of a well-intentioned policy that doesn’t work on the ground.

These bags are more likely to blow down the street than keep recycling contained. There are also privacy and security concerns — household mail or personal documents end up exposed, giving fraudsters an easy opportunity. Beyond that, rows of untidy sacks outside homes hardly inspire confidence in a system designed to promote cleaner communities.

This isn’t just one neighbourhood’s frustration. These are shared concerns across the country, and they highlight a deeper issue: why do councils and supermarkets keep shifting the responsibility for recycling onto ordinary people, while the bigger systems behind the scenes remain broken?

Supermarkets and the recycling illusion

Supermarket “take-back” schemes promised to handle tricky materials like soft plastics. Shoppers were told that by returning bags and wrappers to in-store bins, they were helping close the loop. Yet an investigation by The Guardian revealed that much of this plastic was burned or exported, not recycled at all (The Guardian, 2024).

It’s little wonder public trust is fragile. A survey found that 78% of UK shoppers believe supermarkets still use too much single-use plastic, and 69% think profits come before environmental responsibility (Sustainability Online, 2025).

Even campaigners have used humour to drive the point home — Greenpeace once released a parody ad mocking supermarkets’ reliance on plastics. The fact that it’s still relevant today shows just how little progress has been made.

Packaging beyond plastic

It’s important to recognise this isn’t only a plastic problem. UK households are also swamped with cardboard waste — the endless stream of boxes from online shopping.

Packaging waste in the UK hit 12.7 million tonnes in 2023, and less than half of that was actually recycled (UK Gov Packaging Statistics, 2023). Much of the rest was burned or landfilled.

So even if retailers swap from plastic to cardboard, the over-packaging illusion is still with us — ordinary people left to deal with mountains of unnecessary waste.

Plastic wars are real — and they hurt

The impact of packaging isn’t limited to our homes. Wildlife pays the price, too.

On Lord Howe Island, researchers found seabird chicks with up to 778 pieces of plastic in their stomachs — making up 20% of their body weight. Pressing their tiny chests produced a sickening “crunch” as the plastics shifted inside (People.com, 2025). It’s a disturbing reminder that our packaging waste doesn’t vanish when it leaves our bins — it echoes through ecosystems worldwide.

Transparency and accountability matter

Here’s the heart of the issue:

• Councils are spending public money on solutions that don’t always solve the problem.

• Supermarkets continue with PR-friendly schemes that don’t deliver real recycling.

• Online retailers still rely on wasteful packaging practices.

• Consumers are left confused, doubting whether their efforts make any difference.

Trust is the missing piece. People will only commit to recycling if they believe the system is transparent and effective. Until then, recycling risks being little more than an illusion.

Campaigners were catching out supermarkets’ plastic habits years ago — Greenpeace even mocked Sainsbury’s back in 2019 — yet here we are, still waiting for real change.

What real solutions look like

Amidst the frustration, there are glimmers of progress. Veolia recently announced a £70 million investment in the UK’s first closed-loop PET recycling facility (Reuters, 2025). Due to open in 2026, the plant will be able to recycle supermarket PET trays back into food-grade packaging.

That’s real innovation: large-scale infrastructure that can change how recycling actually works. But for it to succeed, government policies like the Plastic Packaging Tax and stronger Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules need to align with private investment. Without that support, we risk more token gestures instead of real impact.

A call for change

For me, this is about more than frustration — it’s about fairness and accountability. If the UK is serious about tackling its waste crisis, we need joined-up solutions:

• Councils providing workable, secure recycling systems.

• Supermarkets and online retailers are reducing packaging at source.

• Government-backed infrastructure that works at scale.

  
  

Recycling & Councils Supermarkets & the Public Trust Gap - This isn’t just my voice, it’s a growing demand across communities, campaigners and everyday shoppers. Recycling should be more than a box-ticking exercise. It should be a promise that when we make the effort, it really counts.

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