Plastic Free Supermarket Maturity Model
When I talk to people about Plastic Free Supermarket, without fail, they immediately talk about fresh produce. Fortunately, it is one supermarket area where we can make plastic-free choices.
When we walk through the fresh produce when we walk through the fresh produce section at the local supermarket, we see beautifully arranged fruit and vegetables. Apples and oranges are stacked neatly. Most loose items, though, now have “convenient” barcodes. These tiny plastic stickers help us out at the self-checkout.
There are also convenient bulk bags. For as long as I can remember, oranges and onions have come in netted bags. These netted bags are polyethylene, a type of plastic. They are great because they allow produce to breathe. They are also strong; 3kg of oranges can be easily handled as a single “item” with a barcode attached for convenience at the checkout.
There is a high chance that every netted bag you have ever brought home is now buried in a landfill somewhere. And that is the best-case scenario.
There is no widely available solution to recycle these today. These types of plastics are choking our waste management systems and making it harder to recycle.
My goal with Plastic Free Supermarket is to reuse or recycle 100% of all packaging that passes through our supermarkets. Not just here in Australia but globally.
For this to become a reality, so much has to change. But a journey starts with a single step. So, what do those steps look like?
Last week, I introduced my “Theory of Least Shit”. If you missed that article, here is a link to it: #008: Theory of “Least Shit” 💩
Today, I am introducing the “Plastic Free Supermarket Maturity Model.”
There are lots of different ways we can Measure the performance of supermarkets. Some of the big ones are Average Basket Size, Customer Lifetime Value, Frequency of Shop and, my favourite of all, Shrinkage.
Unfortunately, none of these Measures meet the goals of Plastic Free Supermarket. So, I have created a new maturity model. This model aligns with our goal of removing all plastic packaging from supermarkets. It also incorporates many of the essential factors that make supermarkets so great. None of them conflict with any of the standard Measures supermarkets use either.
| Shit Score | 💩💩💩💩💩 | 💩💩💩💩 | 💩💩💩 | 💩💩 | 💩 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic-Free Packaging | Most products in the aisle/category use plastic packaging. | The majority of products in the aisle/category use plastic packaging. | Many plastic-free options are available. Of the plastics used, | Plastic packaging is used ONLY where no alternative exists currently. | No Plastic packaging used |
| Plastic Packaging | Multiple similar but different types of plastic are used. Consumers are confused about what can and cannot be recycled. | Multiple different types of plastic are used. Types of plastic must be separated by consumers to enable efficient recycling. | Multiple different types of plastic are used. Plastics don’t need to be separated by type to be recycled. | Only a single type of plastic is used for packaging. | No Plastic packaging used |
| Recycle Ability | 0 to 10% of packaging can be recycled into the same packaging. | 10 to 30% of packaging can be recycled into the same packaging. Some Virgin material is required when recycling. | 30 to 60% of packaging can be recycled into the same packaging. Some Virgin material is required when recycling. | 60 to 100% of packaging can be recycled into the same packaging. Some Virgin material is required when recycling. | All packaging used is infinitely recyclable. |
| Actual Recycling | 0 to 10% of packaging is recycled | 10-20% of packaging is recycled | 30-50% of packaging is recycled | 50-80% of packaging is recycled | 80 - 100% of packaging is recycled |
| Reusability | Packaging is not reusable for anything. | Packaging can be reused once or twice in the home or by creative kids! | Packaging can be reused many times. At the end of its reusability, it is not recyclable. | Packaging can be reused many times. At the end of its reusability, it can be recycled. | Packaging can be returned to the supermarkets and reused for the same purpose. |
| Consumer Cost | There are no sustainable options available. | Sustainable options are more expensive | Sustainable options are at a similar price. | Sustainable options are cheaper | There are no unsustainable options available. |
| Convenience | All convenient options rely on plastic. | Some less convenient options exist which allow consumers to avoid plastic. | Many less convenient options exist; however, plastic options offer the best convenience. | Plastic vs non-plastic options share the same level of convenience. | Plastic-free options are the most convenient option for consumers. |
This is the very first version of this model I have developed. Over the coming weeks, I will use this maturity model to analyse the performance of local supermarkets, aisle by aisle and department by department.
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