SMEs struggling to reduce single-use plastic footprint, survey suggests

Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses are failing to make progress in reducing their single-use plastic footprints despite a sustained campaign encouraging change, according to a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 senior decision makers in SME businesses, commissioned by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and BRITA UK.

In the medical and health services sector, the survey found:

• 23% think their business has a duty to be a leader on this issue and 33% believe they are responsible for encouraging customers to reduce consumption of single-use plastics, with 23% saying that their business should be sharing best practice.
• When it comes to their supply chains, 7% of businesses have audited how they use single-use plastics, while 4% have selected new suppliers based on their environment credentials in this respect. 
• 7% say their SME has run education or awareness-raising initiatives aimed at customers and 23% have installed or increased availability of filtered drinking water taps or fountains.
• 43% think their business does not have a responsibility to provide recycling facilities in the workplace and a third think they are responsible for encouraging customers to recycle.
• 69% agree that preventing plastic waste is important to their business.
• 13% say they are not motivated at all by concern for the impact of business on the environment.   

The figures, published ahead of a wider study by Keep Britain Tidy’s Centre for Social Innovation and BRITA UK, The Role of Businesses in Reducing Single-Use Plastics, suggest businesses are failing to respond to public pressure. The report will include recommendations based on the successful initiatives introduced by larger businesses to help others make changes to reduce single-use plastic within their own organisations. 

Sarah Taylor, managing director of BRITA UK, said: “The last few years have seen a sea change in our awareness of the impact of single-use plastic on the marine and wider environment. It’s been exciting to see so many household name businesses take big steps to reduce their single-use plastic footprint, from providing staff with reusable alternatives, such as reusable water bottles and coffee cups, to trialling refill schemes for customers in stores. As a business this is something BRITA has been proud to be a part of. But it’s clear that smaller organisations have not been as confident at making changes, despite what their customers and staff are saying. Real change will only be achieved if the business community comes together to find solutions to the challenges posed by single-use plastic.”

The research suggests that one of the key obstacles to businesses taking action is an unwillingness to take a leadership role and be a first mover in a sector, suggesting there is a driving role for trade bodies. A third of senior decision makers in SME businesses (33%) say their business is challenged in its reduction of single-use plastic by the fear that it could potentially be left at a competitive disadvantage, while half (47%) say their business is not motivated at all by the opportunity to implement change ahead of others and be a leader in single-use plastic waste prevention in their sector.

The data also makes clear the need for innovation and education so businesses fully understand the alternatives available to them in their supply chains and feel confident to make changes. For example, two thirds (65%) say a challenge is finding less environmentally impactful alternatives that still do the same job, while 56% worry about the high cost of alternatives. 

In light of the findings, Keep Britain Tidy and BRITA UK are calling on businesses to:

• Take much greater responsibility and leadership in eliminating unnecessary single-use plastics;
• Begin to pilot and independently monitor initiatives to reduce unnecessary plastics and encourage greater recycling, both in retail and the workplace, with a view to scaling these across their organisation, as well as making recommendations for other businesses looking to replicate these changes;
• Ensure all ‘quick wins’ in terms of unnecessary single-use plastics, where they can be eliminated, are implemented. Examples include offering tap water to customers and incentivising the use of reusable coffee cups; replacing plastic milk bottles with a glass bottle milk delivery service; making use of refill schemes for cleaning products; eliminating single-use plastic cutlery and replacing with reusable alternatives; and removing plastic straws and all single-use carrier bags, encouraging customers to bring their own bags; 
• In time, look to make more innovative and systematic changes to further reduce their use of single-use plastics. Businesses should show leadership in their sector and openly share outcomes, learnings and recommendations. Examples include incentivising the use of reusable products or the purchase of packaging-free items (for example, by offering a discount on purchase or selling them at a lower price than packaged items); investing in research and innovation for the development of new plastic-free solutions; and trialling retail refill schemes for customers to return empty containers.   

Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, said: “This research makes for shocking reading but it is not simply about knocking businesses for inaction – it is about understanding the barriers they face and looking to work with them to offer the expertise, support and guidance that will help them transform for good.  

“The public are willing to get out there and do something to clean up the plastic that they see around them – more than half a million volunteers gave their time during the Great British Spring Clean to do just that – and businesses must support the public by playing their part. There are some 5.7 million small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, accounting for 99% of all businesses – so we need them to take action alongside the household names.”