According to its latest sustainability report, Greggs fell short of its 25% lightweighting target for packaging in 2025; yet it has shifted its focus towards easier-to-recycle materials, and has apparently achieved 100% recyclable own-brand packaging, minus its hot drink cups.
In 2021, Greggs sought to use 25% less packaging by weight than it did in 2019, and to transition any remaining packaging into widely recycled materials. (The chain notes that the UK’s Packaging Recovery Notes approach has been replaced with an Extended Producer Responsibility system, which has prevented a like-for-like comparison with its 2018 baseline.)
Since then, it has observed that introducing easier-to-recycle materials – for example, replacing its plastic bags with paper and implementing wooden cutlery – has compromised its weight reduction target.
“As the work progressed, it became clear that the most responsible path wasn’t simply about using lighter materials, but using better materials,” the report says. “We therefore shifted our focus towards improving recyclability across our packaging portfolio, and reducing the weight where we could.”
Lightweighting
While Greggs has fallen short of its 25% goal, it has continued to cut small units of weight from its packaging components. For example, the chain’s soft plastic bread bags are now 3 microns lighter; this has apparently reduced the chain’s plastic consumption by three tonnes every year without compromising on the packaging’s efficacy.
The report continues that the Greggs’ Belgian Buns box lids ‘need not be as sturdy’ as the base and have been lightweighted by 10%. In 2024, Greggs phased out the rigid lids on its salad pots in favour of a peelable film – a move believed to reduce the component’s weight by over 90%. It has since made the same transition for its Fresh Cream Slice product and claimed to eliminate 7.7 tonnes of plastic annually.
The chain has also addressed its transport packaging by lightweighting its pallet stretch wrap by 7 microns, aiming to save over 36 tonnes of plastic every year. It has also implemented collapsible plastic ‘pallecons’ to transport grated cheese to its pizza production sites in Manchester and Enfield.
These containers are said to be easier to store, handle, and unload than corrugated cardboard boxes while reducing product damage. The format is set to avoid over 110 tonnes of cardboard over the course of a year.
By the end of 2026, Greggs aspires to use 25% less packaging by weight (as a percentage of sales) from a 2019 baseline. Any remaining packaging will be made from material that is ‘more easily recycled’.
Recyclability
Transitioning into easily recyclable formats has involved replacing components that are currently incompatible with domestic kerbside recycling schemes. For example, Greggs has replaced the polystyrene lids of its hot drink cups with recycled plastic alternatives.
With the exception of its hot drink cups themselves, Greggs reports that 100% of its own-brand packaging was fully recyclable in 2025. It elaborates that cups must be lined with plastic to hold hot liquid, but recycling infrastructure in the UK does not yet collect or reprocess this format.
“Over the last five years, we have worked with our industry peers to explore sector-wide improvements in the way we manage coffee cup usage and disposal,” the report states. “We remain committed to finding a solution and, in the meantime, continue to offer a discount of 25 pence to any customers who bring in a reusable cup for their hot drink.”
Greggs will remove the recyclability of its own-brand packaging from The Greggs Pledge, but it emphasizes its commitment to ‘solving the challenge’ of its hot drink cups – and to applying ‘high environmental standards’ to any new packaging it introduces.
Additionally, it aspires to introduce segregated waste bins in the customer areas of its shop estate by the end of this year.
As of 2025, Greggs has apparently eliminated ‘unnecessary’ single-use plastics from its shops and manufacturing sites. Its paper and board-based packaging is reportedly sourced entirely from FSC- or PEFC-certified sources.
Carbon emissions
Greggs notes a 56% reduction in its emissions intensity since 2019, which includes cutting its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18% – yet it concedes that 95% of its carbon emissions stem from Scope 3 emissions, including ingredients and packaging purchased from suppliers.
It has sought to tackle the issue by corresponding with suppliers and addressing carbon-intensive products, including paper and card packaging.
“We still have a way to go to meet our target of a 46.2% absolute reduction in emissions by 2030, but we are taking bold action to close that gap over the next five years, even as we grow our estate,” says the report.
In the long term, Greggs aspires to reach net zero by 2040. Its near-term targets to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 46.2%, and Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services by 46.2%, by 2030 (compared to a 2019 baseline) have reportedly been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Greggs aims to reduce Scope 2 emissions as per its net zero trajectory by the end of this year, and to achieve net zero in this category by 2030.
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