Sustainable mechanisms of consumption and production patterns are crucial for all nations due to the impact of waste production on the environment. The UN sustainable development goal 12 requires every nation to encourage consumption and production patterns that are sustainable in nature. Unsustainable production patterns are a burden on environmental health and are also a cause for the acceleration of climate change that is causing global warming. As per a report of Greenpeace UK, 896,853 tonnes of packaging made of plastic were produced by UK-based supermarkets (Client Earth, 2021). This reflects the extent to which supermarkets contribute to the problem of plastic pollution and sustainable development efforts can help reduce the impact of the supermarkets on the environmental health.
The current research will work on the following research question –
How does the production of plastic in UK-based supermarkets impact the overall sustainable development of the nation?
The rationalee for the research has been to evaluate the impact of supermarkets in the UK on the nation’s ability to be sustainable, especially with the rising importance of sustainable development for the globe. The research will help the UK government and the industry of supermarkets in taking the necessary steps for reducing the impact of plastic consumption by supermarkets.
The research paper aims to evaluate the production patterns of plastic and other wastes in UK-based supermarkets through the case study of Home Bargains Supermarket. Accordingly, the research paper has the following objectives –
Plastic production from UK based supermarkets is a major sustainability issue. Seven of the biggest supermarkets in the UK utilize a combined plastic packaging of 59 billion pieces. This implies that 2000 pieces of plastic are produced per household on an annual basis (Helmer, 2021). This may be occurring due to the lack of targets for UK based supermarkets for reducing the amount of plastic packaging they utilize annually (Helmer, 2021). The role of leading retailers and supermarkets is extremely important in ensuring sustainable consumption within the UK is made possible (Jones et al., 2014). Through the implementation of reusable packaging and reduction in the usage of plastics for packaging, supermarkets can also help ensure the consumers and citizens within the UK are also engaged in the sustainable development efforts of the nation (Balan, 2021).
Home Bargains, a UK based supermarket, engages in recycling and disposal efforts to ensure their negative impact on the environment is minimal (Home Bargains, n.d.). However, recycling efforts are not sufficient for reducing plastic consumption and production within the UK. In the case of fresh produce, plastic packaging ought to be removed and replaced with more sustainable forms of packaging (White and Lockyer, 2020). Supermarkets within the UK are responsible for 85% of the plastic packaging that is consumed within the nation (White and Lockyer, 2020). The need for reducing plastic packaging for products is extremely crucial for ensuring UK’s overall impact on global environmental health is minimal. Retailers can take into consideration the gradual phasing out of plastic packaging as a starter for reducing their negative impact on the environment. However, retailers also need to take into consideration the impact of other activities that they engage in, which hamper their ability to be sustainable. While the attention to plastic pollution has been rising in recent times, organizations also need to consider switching to renewable energy and encouraging consumers to go green (Keller and Wyles, 2021). Besides plastic packaging, products such as plastic straws, body care products containing microplastics, etc., are also extremely deterrent to environmental health. These aspects need to be taken into consideration by supermarkets in order for them to become truly sustainable.
Plastic materials have an extremely negative impact on the environment due to their non-biodegradable nature and their polluting effect (Herberz et al., 2020). The problem is in removing plastic-based packaging from fresh produce because this can significantly reduce the life span of such produce (White and Lockyer, 2020). Some types of plastics can be recycled and these should be the alternative used by supermarkets in comparison to single-use plastics (Dixon-Hardy and Curran, 2009).
One of the important concepts that UK based supermarkets ought to implement in their strategies to reduce their impact on the environment is of corporate social responsibility (Lauritsen and Perks, 2015). Corporate social responsibility requires organizations to take into account their social and environmental responsibilities while also focusing on the element of being profitable. Without creating a balance between the three areas of responsibility, the organization cannot be sustainable in the future and also contribute to the depletion of resources for future generations (Lauritsen and Perks, 2015).
The framework of the ‘triple bottom line’ is also significant in this regard. This can help organizations in fulfilling their sustainability goals by taking into consideration their impact on people, profits and the planet; while also taking initiatives to balance the three through the means of fulfilling their corporate social responsibility (Slaper and Hall, 2011). Lastly, the sustainability efforts of supermarkets also help promote ‘ecological citizenship’ on the part of consumers and allow them to incorporate practices of sustainable development within their daily lives (Seyfang, 2004).UN’s sustainable development goal 12 requires member nations to engage in sustainable development and consumption of resources. This implies that while the economy’s growth is encouraged, it is also encouraged to ensure the full value of resources is utilized so that resource wastage is minimal. This framework will be studied in the context of the supermarkets within the UK and how they contribute to SDG 12 through sustainability efforts.
The research paper will help fulfil the literature gap on the plastic consumption and production by UK based supermarkets on the overall Sustainability of the nation.
The research study will apply the research approach of inductive research for finding the solution to the research problem. The inductive research approach involves seeking the patterns within the observations from the data of the research (Liu, 2016). In this case, the data will be related to UK based supermarkets with a specific focus on Home Bargains.
The research strategy will be a case study based strategy. The focus of the case study will be the impact of supermarkets within the UK on the sustainable development of the nation. The research paper will utilize qualitative and quantitative data through the CSR reporting initiatives of these supermarkets to evaluate their level of Sustainability. Data from grey literature, such as news sources and blogs from non-profit organizations, will also be utilized to take into account other reports about the sustainability initiatives of these supermarkets. The data will be analyzed to determine the steps that are being taken actively and the areas wherein the supermarkets are inactive and not achieving sustainability goals.
The research will primarily utilize the qualitative research methodology for the purposes of evaluation. However, quantitative data will be also be taken into consideration where relevant. The research paper will make use of tools such as primsa, SWOT analysis, critical appraisal tools, etc., to evaluate the impact of UK based supermarkets on sustainable development.
The research will only take into consideration supermarkets that are based within the UK. In particular, the case study of Home Bargains will be utilized for fulfilling the research objectives. The inclusion criteria will be organizations that primarily operate as supermarkets, the location of the UK, and supermarkets that have a prominent impact on the UK’s economy. The exclusion criteria will be for any supermarkets that are based out of the UK and supermarkets which are not economically significant.
The researcher will conduct the research ethically and will provide due credit to authors whose ideas will be utilized for analyzing the research data. The content of the research will not be plagiarized as plagiarism is an unethical practice and a form of theft of the work of another researcher. The researcher will undertake all necessary steps for ensuring the research is conducted in a just manner.
Conclusion
Limitations of Proposed Approach
One of the limitations of the proposed approach for the research is that it is only taking into consideration the supermarket of Home Bargains to evaluate the efficiency of sustainability efforts of UP based supermarkets. However, the results of the research would have been more impactful if a large number of supermarkets operating within the UK had been taken into consideration. While the impact of other supermarkets will be considered, the in-depth study will solely focus on Home Bargains due to time and resource restraints.
Expected Research Outcomes
The research outcomes will reflect the current steps that UK based supermarkets are undertaking to reduce their impact on the environment. The outcomes will also highlight the rising problem of plastic pollution and the extent to which supermarkets are responsible for the aggravation of plastic pollution in the UK. In particular, through the case study of Home Bargains, it will be easier to evaluate how supermarkets create a balance between their triple bottom line of the planet, people and profits. Through studying the impact of supermarkets, the recommendations will be provided on how supermarkets can better engage in sustainable consumption and production practices.
References
Balan, C., 2020, ‘How does retail engage consumers in sustainable consumption? A systematic literature review’, Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 1, pp.96
Client Earth, 2021, Plastic waste: how are supermarkets faring?, Client Earth Communications, accessed 17 March 2022,< https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastic-waste-how-are-supermarkets-faring/#>
Dixon-Hardy, D.W. & Curran, B.A., 2009, ‘Types of packaging waste from secondary sources (supermarkets)–The situation in the UK’, Waste management, vol. 29, no. 3, pp.1198-1207
Helmer, J., 2021, Are Supermarkets Doing Enough to Reduce Single-Use Plastic Waste?, Food
Herberz, T., Barlow, C.Y. & Finkbeiner, M., 2020, ‘Sustainability assessment of a single-use plastics ban’, Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 9, pp.3746
Home Bargains, n.d., Environment, Recycling and Disposal, Help.HomeBargains, accessed 20 March 2022, <https://help.homebargains.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/200377486-Environment-Recycling-and-Disposal>
Jones, P., Hillier, D. & Comfort, D., 2014, ‘Sustainable consumption and the UK’s leading retailers’, Social responsibility journal, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 244
Keller, A. & Wyles, K.J., 2021, ‘Straws, seals, and supermarkets: Topics in the newspaper coverage of marine plastic pollution’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 166, pp.112211.
Lauritsen, B.D. and Perks, K.J., 2015, ‘The influence of interactive, non-interactive, implicit and explicit CSR communication on young adults’ perception of UK supermarkets’ corporate brand image and reputation’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 20, no. 2
Liu, L., 2016, ‘Using Generic Inductive Approach in Qualitative Educational Research: A Case Study Analysis’, Journal of Education and Learning, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.129-135
Print, accessed 30 March 2022, <https://foodprint.org/blog/plastic-waste/ >
Seyfang, G., 2004, ‘Eco-Warriors in the Supermarket? evaluating the UK sustainable consumption strategy as a tool for ecological citizenship’, CSERGE Working Paper EDM, No. 04-07
Slaper, T.F. & Hall, T.J., 2011, ‘The triple bottom line: What is it and how does it work’, Indiana business review, vol. 86, no. 1, pp.4-8
White, A. & Lockyer, S., 2020, ‘Removing plastic packaging from fresh produce–what’s the impact?’ , Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 45, no. 1, pp.35-50
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