Supermarkets need to act now on reuse and refill if the UK is to be “serious” about tackling single-use plastics, warns Wrap.

The environmental NGO has published a new reusable and refillable packaging guide for UK retailers and brands, allowing them to assess their current policy, and transition away from single-use plastics.

Among other predictions, Wrap has outlined that retailers need to be able to deliver 30% of private-label product volume in reusable or refillable packaging formats by 2035.

The company added that the collective adoption of circular economy principles has the potential to generate up to £1.51tn ($1.8tn) in Europe by 2030.

While 75% of the UK consumer plastic packaging market is part of the UK Plastics Pact – a pledge with a series of targets to ditch disposable plastics –  the NGO says 41% of UK consumers do not think that enough is being done to address plastic waste, according to a survey in its Plastic Tracker 2021 report.

Wrap head of material systems transformation Helen Bird said: “Reuse and refill systems are coming, and it’s critical that we collaborate to prepare and get it right. Standardisation and easy access are going to be central to provide a convenient and cost-effective service for shoppers.

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“Our guide will help businesses consider their current packaging portfolio and identify the opportunities to move from single use plastics to reuse and refill packaging on a range of products, and ditch disposable plastic as their customer’s demand.

“The updates to the Recycle Now tool, used by more than 1.8 million people a year, to incorporate reuse systems will help to give people practical information on where they refill locally, whether it’s a high street giant or independent.”

Wrap’s warning comes amid supermarkets backing the NGO’s calls for the government to introduce mandatory blanket bans on use single-use plastics in some products. Last November, Tesco advocated for a ban on disposable packaging for fruit and veg, arguing it would create a “level playing field”.

A spokesperson said the supermarket would embrace “effective government intervention on produce packaging removal. Government intervention will ensure change is made at scale and create a level playing field, where packaging changes will not put any one retailer at a competitive disadvantage”.

Earlier this month, Asda announced it was ditching its refill and reuse initiative, citing the economics of the concept was “too challenging”.