As retailers and producers look for ways to reduce unnecessary packaging while maintaining product quality, strong evidence is essential to guide responsible change.
WRAP partnered with Valpak to access high-quality packaging and market data that would underpin a detailed assessment of whether removing packaging from uncut fresh produce delivers financial and environmental benefits.
The findings are now being used by WRAP to support a business case for government action on packaging policy, helping policymakers evaluate potential regulatory and industry interventions.
WRAP needed reliable, granular data to understand how fruit and vegetable packaging is used across the UK market. To assess the true impact of removing packaging from uncut fresh produce, WRAP required accurate insight into packaging formats, weights, and retail practices, along with evidence strong enough to model financial and sustainability outcomes.
In addition, they wanted evidence that could underpin recommendations to government bodies on packaging waste regulations and incentives for sustainable practices.
Valpak provided comprehensive packaging and market datasets, enabling WRAP to analyse product-level packaging weights, material types, and distribution patterns. This data supported WRAP’s scenario modelling, helping compare packaged versus unpackaged approaches and assess risks, cost implications, and environmental performance.
Our datasets also helped WRAP demonstrate the financial and environmental case to government, showing how policy measures could drive measurable reductions in packaging waste.
Using Valpak’s evidence base, WRAP published Removing Packaging from Uncut Fresh Produce: The Financial Case for Action. The report equips retailers and producers with clear insights into where packaging can be reduced responsibly, how this affects costs, and the potential implications for recyclability and food waste.
The findings are now being used to make a business case for government action, informing potential policy changes and regulatory guidance on packaging reduction in the fresh produce sector. The report strengthens industry understanding and supports more informed, data-driven packaging decisions.
High-quality data enables better decision-making for both industry and government
Removing unnecessary packaging can reduce costs, improve recyclability, and limit environmental impacts
Evidence-based reporting helps shape policy and industry standards in the fresh produce sector
Collaboration between Valpak and WRAP demonstrates the value of using robust data for sustainable packaging strategy