Sustainability
Helping shape the future of coffee
Jul 30 2026 - 5 MIN READ
Earlier this year, Taylors of Harrogate joined WRAP’s new UK Packaging Pact as a founding member, reinforcing its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of packaging and supporting industry-wide collaboration.
Progress on packaging
Launched in April 2026, the UK Packaging Pact is the successor scheme to the UK Plastics Pact, expanding its scope to cover all packaging materials. The decade-long, voluntary agreement brings together around 100 organisations from across the value chain, including brands, retailers, waste managers, trade bodies, academic partners and government. Its vision is to deliver “better packaging for people and planet” with solutions that support a more efficient, circular and sustainable packaging system.
Taylors was an early supporter of WRAP’s work, becoming one of the first signatories to the UK Plastics Pact in 2018 which aimed to transform the UK plastics system by 2025, with ambitious goals to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastics, ensure all packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable, and increase both recycled content and effective recycling rates.
Lizzie Milner, Packaging Buying Lead at Taylors shares more:
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From the outset, we recognised that some of these targets would be challenging, with the pandemic and delays to key policy developments adding further complexity. Nevertheless, we made strong progress and invested significantly in projects to support the Pact’s ambitions. These include transitioning Yorkshire Tea tea bags from oil-based to plant-based materials, removing plastic overwrap from our tea boxes, and moving our core roast and ground coffee packaging to formats that can be recycled via supermarket collection points. While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we recognise there is still more to do.”
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Looking ahead
The UK Packaging Pact sets out four long‑term goals: to optimise packaging, scale reuse and refill, support circular infrastructure investment and harmonise data. It is also designed to complement the UK’s evolving policy landscape, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and consistency in recycling collections.
Lizzie concludes:
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Ongoing challenges, including changing regulations and the need to support consumers in recycling effectively, mean continued action is essential. Through our partnership with WRAP, we’ve benefited from shared expertise and collaboration with other organisations across the sector and we look forward to building on this as members of the UK Packaging Pact.
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