Britain’s supermarkets love wrapping. Bananas in bags, cucumbers in shrink-wrap, apples in plastic coffins—it’s less “fresh produce” and more Tupperware mausoleum. And while the planet wheezes under a duvet of discarded packaging, the big-name chains keep rolling out new products like they’re auditioning for Supermarket Sweep: Apocalypse Edition.
So here’s a mad idea: tax the plastic pushers.
🧃 The Cling-Film Cartel Gets a Free Ride—Why?
Every week, your shop comes with a mountain of cellophane and cartons, more layers than a royal scandal. By the time you’ve unpacked your groceries, you need a skip and a cry. But don’t worry—most of it says “recyclable” in microscopic Comic Sans, so it’s basically guilt-free, right?
Wrong. Most of it isn’t recycled. It’s shipped, burned, or dumped. And the companies responsible? They nod solemnly at climate pledges, then triple-wrap a swede like it’s plutonium.
A plastic packaging tax on the supermarkets would hit them where it hurts—in their bottom lines. Force innovation. Cut down single-use crap. Maybe even return to the golden days of paper bags and actual fresh produce, not shrink-wrapped sadness with a loyalty card.
Of course, Tesco & Co. will cry foul. “Costs will rise!” “Consumers will suffer!” Funny how they never say that when hiking prices mid-inflation while posting record profits.
The real reason they won’t budge? Plastic is cheap. Reusable and eco-friendly options cost more. And saving the planet just doesn’t fit neatly into their Q4 targets.
🌍 Challenges🌍
Is it time to slap a tax on every unnecessary layer of plastic, or will the supermarkets just pass the cost to us and keep stacking profits? Should we boycott overwrapped produce or just start shopping with bolt cutters?
Chameleon Magazine 
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