800,000 tonnes of packaging waste produced by the sector, says government body.
Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) wants to help retailers and manufacturers in the diy and home improvement sector to reduce waste, costs, and associated carbon emissions.

The organisation, which has been working with the grocery sector, believes the estimated 800,000 tonnes of packaging waste produced by the diy and home improvement sector could be cut significantly.

"Reducing waste can bring cost savings and raises customer satisfaction as well as having environmental benefits," said Mike Robey, key account manager at WRAP.

He added: "We are confident that by working with the diy and home improvement sectors we can help the industry to reduce and reuse packaging whilst at the same time reducing product damage."

WRAP has already worked with B&Q and Argos, and in recent trials found that using multi-trip packaging reduces packaging waste and product damage rates.

WRAP says it is now looking to share its findings from work with the grocery sector and from initial forays into the diy sector.

It also wants to develop benchmarking tools, and support for research and development.

WRAP is a not-for-profit company established in 2000. It is backed by Government funding from Defra, and works to encourage businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials.