EUROPEANS ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR PACKAGING CONTAINING LESS PLASTIC

 

  • Six in ten Europeans sort and recycle more waste than they did five years ago
  • 86% say environmental issues are the main challenge facing society
  • Poles, more than Germans, Belgians and Brits, are willing to pay more for a product if only the packaging contains less plastic.

Europeans want to pay more for less plastic

Six in ten (62%) European consumers say they would be willing to pay more for food products in packaging containing less plastic. A similar number (59%) say they sort and recycle more waste than they did five years ago.

When given a choice between two packaging options containing a product of the same quality, a vast majority (nine in ten) of Europeans (91.5%) said they would choose the packaging containing 85% less plastic. Asked whether they would pay 12.5% more for such a product, 62% of respondents admitted they would be willing to do so.

These are just some of the findings of a study published today by DS Smith, a leading European sustainable packaging manufacturer. The study was conducted in July 2019 among 3,395 respondents in key markets where DS Smith operates: the UK, Germany, Belgium and Poland. Its aim was to understand consumer attitudes and habits regarding packaging, recycling and waste management.

Belgians are the most price-sensitive – just over half (54%) are willing to pay more for a product in packaging with a lower plastic content. On the other hand, Poles turned out to be the most willing to pay more (72%). Most Brits (60%) and Germans (63%) are also ready to pay more, and results in these countries were closer to the European average.

Plastic packaging – the biggest problem in Europe

Plastic packaging – the biggest problem

The vast majority of respondents (86%) say environmental issues are currently the main challenge facing society, and the type of product packaging is a concern for consumers across Europe, from Cardiff to Krakow. Germans are the most concerned about the environmental impact of packaging (83%), followed by Brits (78%), Belgians (73%) and Poles (71%).

As for packaging itself, high plastic content is the biggest problem across Europe. On average, seven in ten respondents mention it. Next on the list of the most important issues are coffee capsules, but far fewer respondents mentioned them – only 6% of respondents. Metal packaging (cans, aluminium trays, etc.) was a concern for 5% of respondents, while waterproof packaging for liquids such as milk and fruit juices was mentioned by 4% of respondents.

Cardboard least controversial for consumers

On the other hand, cardboard packaging is the least controversial for Europeans – only 1% of respondents in the four countries mentioned it.

The good news is that Europeans' recycling habits have improved significantly. On average, six in ten (59%) respondents from the four surveyed markets say they now sort and process more waste than they did five years ago. They represent the majority of respondents in all countries – 62% in Belgium, 64% in the UK and 65% in Poland – except Germany, where only 44% say they sort and recycle more waste than they did five years ago. This may be because sorting and recycling habits were already well established in that market, where 55% of respondents say they sort and recycle as much waste as they did five years ago.

Commenting on the survey results, Krzysztof Sadowski, Managing Director of DS Smith Poland & Baltics, said:

Excess packaging and too much plastic content in packaging are the biggest concerns among European consumers – to such an extent that they are ready to pay more for less plastic content. Europeans have changed their attitude to become decidedly more pro-ecological. They sort and recycle more waste than they did five years ago. It is also very encouraging that people understand that cardboard packaging poses a much smaller problem for the environment: it is a sustainable, recyclable alternative to plastic packaging. For the sake of our planet, we need to create a circular economy in which packaging is reduced to the necessary minimum, and consumer goods packaging is increasingly made from recyclable materials such as cardboard.

The study found that media coverage (mentioned by 30% of respondents) and the removal of plastic bags from shops (mentioned by 26% of respondents) are the two main factors increasing consumer awareness of packaging-related issues in Europe. In Poland, it is precisely the removal of plastic bags that is the factor that has contributed most to the rise in consumer awareness – it was indicated by 32% of respondents.

In total, 67% of surveyed Poles said that environmental protection significantly influences their consumer behaviour or is a very important factor for them. This is the highest result in all of Europe. Only 61% of Belgians, 56% of Germans and 51% of Brits expressed a similar opinion.

Poles, unlike respondents in the other countries, indicate that the greatest responsibility for using recyclable packaging lies with its manufacturers. In other countries, that responsibility is placed on consumer goods producers.

Summary

DS Smith's study in four European markets shows that 62% of consumers would pay more for a product in packaging with a lower plastic content, and 91.5% choose packaging with 85% less of this material. Poles are the most willing to pay extra (72%), Belgians the least (54%). For 86% of Europeans, environmental issues are the main challenge, and cardboard raises concerns among only 1% of respondents.

An interesting fact is that in Poland it was the removal of plastic bags (32% of indications) that increased consumer awareness the most, and 67% of Poles declare that ecology significantly influences their purchases – the most in Europe. Only 44% of Germans sort more waste than they did five years ago, which may be due to already established habits in that market.