A pioneering study of 1,500 supermarket products has revealed the excessive use of plastic in food and beverage packaging in Spain. The report is called l  Material Change Index , prepared by Retail Economics for DS Smith, identified that 44% of food products in Spanish supermarkets are wrapped in plastic that could be replaced by more sustainable alternatives.

 This massive use of plastic means using 16.6 billion plastic items unnecessarily across the country in just one year. The study shows that most of this plastic comes from meat and fish packaging (84%), dairy products (83%) and processed foods, including ready meals (78%).