The Ecologists without Borders conducted their research based on a basket of basic consumer goods as defined by the Slovenian Statistics Office.

They selected typical products, the kind that consumers are likely to pick and which do not stand out from other products of the same type in terms of packaging.

The basket contained foodstuffs, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, tobacco, some white goods products and home products such as cleaning products.

About half of the packaging (45.3%) was made of plastic, a further 7.4% of the packaging was composite packaging, such as Tetra Pak cartons that contain plastic, while the rest was paper, glass and metal.

Jaka Kranjc from the Ecologists without the Borders, speaking at the presentation of the analysis in Ljubljana earlier this week, said that about half of the packaging from the basket could be fully recycled in the given situation. "That is the half that is not made of plastic."

He noted the high proportion of uncategorised plastic code numbered 7. "We must reduce this share," he said, adding that such plastic is as a rule not recycled because it would be uneconomical.

Considering that Slovenia has made it its goal to reuse or recycle all plastic packaging by 2030, "we still have a lot to do", said Kranjc.

About 22% of the packaging contained several layers, some of which are recyclable and some of which are not. A further 25% was such that is not fit for recycling because of a lack of market interest, insufficient volume, excessive impurity or similar reasons.

Comparing the mass of packaging with the product mass, the NGO found the most wasteful packaging was that of packaged tea, followed by bottled drinks.