Tesco, the UK's largest retailer, has asked suppliers to provide detailed information about the packaging they use, Packaging News has learned.
Tesco's suppliers have received a data sheet, seen by Packaging News, which asks for information on recycled content and country of origin and applies to primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
It also records the number of units of packaging that fit inside a case and the evolution of a pack's weight over the past three years.
Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle said Tesco was most likely "attempting to get background information" to monitor its progress towards achieving Courtauld Commitment targets.
However, he added: "The challenge for Tesco is to confine it to that and not to use the data for anything else."
A Tesco spokeswoman said she "could not comment on a specific form" but reiterated the supermarket's commitment to packaging reduction.
"As a business, Tesco is working with suppliers to collect data [on packaging], with a view to seeing how it can be reduced," she said.
Tesco's move comes after US retail giant Wal-Mart rolled out its packaging scorecard on almost 100,000 products on 1 February, following a year of trials (Packaging News, March 2008).
Wal-Mart's UK arm, Asda, has said it wants to introduce its own version in early 2009.
Tesco's suppliers have received a data sheet, seen by Packaging News, which asks for information on recycled content and country of origin and applies to primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
It also records the number of units of packaging that fit inside a case and the evolution of a pack's weight over the past three years.
Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle said Tesco was most likely "attempting to get background information" to monitor its progress towards achieving Courtauld Commitment targets.
However, he added: "The challenge for Tesco is to confine it to that and not to use the data for anything else."
A Tesco spokeswoman said she "could not comment on a specific form" but reiterated the supermarket's commitment to packaging reduction.
"As a business, Tesco is working with suppliers to collect data [on packaging], with a view to seeing how it can be reduced," she said.
Tesco's move comes after US retail giant Wal-Mart rolled out its packaging scorecard on almost 100,000 products on 1 February, following a year of trials (Packaging News, March 2008).
Wal-Mart's UK arm, Asda, has said it wants to introduce its own version in early 2009.
Source: packagingnews
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