Emma Pasguay

K1762037
Corporate Social responsibility
Tutorial Work - Iceland

Broadly analyse the "too cool for plastic" initiative of Iceland Foods and answer the following
question: What are the key strengths and weaknesses of Iceland's environmental strategy?

Iceland’s “too cool for plastic” initiative started in January 2018. The aim is for the food giant to

become the first major retailer to eliminate plastic packaging from all of its own label products. It

aims to do this by 2023. Iceland previously used 13,000 tonnes of plastic. Over the course of one

year, it has managed to remove over 1,500 tonnes. Some of the initiatives involve removing plastic

straws from their product offerings and coming up with new formats of packaging. Plastic

packaging has been removed/reduced across 81 lines. Iceland is carrying out product packaging

innovation. They are replacing plastic bags with recycled paper bands for bananas and are using

cotton net bags. Iceland’s campaign is also aiming to make improvements to products themselves,

by developing biodegradable products such plastic free chewing-gum. This is a step which allows

consumers to reduce their plastic footprint. In order to make it easier for consumers to be aware of

their plastic footprint, Iceland is now depending on the Plastic Free Trust Mark to display plastic

free options across their lines.

One of the key strengths of Iceland’s environmental strategies is that it is an innovative strategy in

the sense that they are the first major global retailer to make such a bold move. Even if some

supermarkets have made attempts at environmental strategies, such as Waitrose, none have such

developed goals. Additionally, Iceland’s strategies allow for partnerships to be formed. A lot of

plastic suppliers already have creative ideas on plastic reduction. Iceland is willing to work together

with external parties to come up with innovative systems, which are more likely to work and make

new ideas commercially scalable. Another strength of Iceland’s is that it is a private company. This

means that the strategy is more likely to be successful than it would be if set in motion in a public

company as the pressure from shareholders would be too drastic. It also means that there is much
less bureaucracy present and makes the process much faster. Furthermore, the Managing Director of

Iceland truly seems to be invested in the strategies and shows a considerate degree of personal

attachment. He has “hunger” for the change. This is making the whole process more commendable

and genuine, and can thus be a valuable asset.

One of the key weaknesses of Iceland’s environmental strategies is that these strategies require a lot

of trial and error work. As we have seen, some of Iceland’s innovative projects have already failed.

First of all, the alternative packaging methods have failed to resonate with shoppers. It is vital for

Iceland to find a way to connect with customers to try to appeal to them. The new wrapping

methods for bananas have also failed (Young 2019). This needs to be corrected in order to

demonstrate to customers the practicality aspect of new packaging methods in addition to them

being recycled and recyclable. Additionally, carrying out trials is an expensive process, just like the

initiative in general. It is imperative for Iceland to ensure that their prices do not go up in order to

maintain their target market.