It's just so degrading: Sainsbury's has launched a fresh drive aimed at cutting down on packaging waste and is to sell 500 of its own-brand products in compostable packs instead of plastic versions.

Announcing the move last week, the store has called on other retailers to follow suit. The compostable packaging, made from plant-based starch, will reduce plastic by around 3,550 tonnes a year. From this month, the chain will print advice such as "please recycle" or "sorry, not recyclable" on all its own-brand products to make the message clear to shoppers. Friends of the Earth welcomed the drive.

Screen out the ads

Television viewers in Ireland watch approximately 280 commercials a week and while this may seem a lot, it is well below the average, according to a report published by UK-based research company, Initiative Futures Worldwide. Seeing Through the Clutter put Ireland 36th out of 50 countries surveyed and found TV viewers here were subjected to 42 per cent less advertising clutter than the global average. Americans cope with the biggest amount of advertising, with 789 TV ads every week.

Has-bean reinstated

At least one of the 280 ads you might see this week has been brought back after a decade on the marketing scrapheap. From today Heinz will once more feature its famous advertising slogan Beanz Meanz Heinz in its TV ads. It was dropped about 10 years ago because Heinz wanted its brand to be associated with a range of products, and not just baked beans. But the company's change of heart follows a poll of 80,000 customers who voted in favour of reinstating the slogan.

Knives out at Iceland

A branch of Iceland in Britain has launched an investigation after a 10-inch knife was found by a customer inside a sealed bag of frozen chicken pieces. The consumer who bought the chicken in Southampton discovered the knife only when her hand grazed against it.