Is this the most wasteful packaging EVER? Shoppers slam stores using excessive plastic to protect their products - from individually wrapped oranges to pre-peeled avocado halves (25 Pics)

It can take up to 1,000 years for plastic to decompose, but that hasn't stopped these retailers from using excessively wasteful packaging.

Photographs recently shared on social media reveal the most ridiculous examples of over-the-top packaging used to wrap up items that often don't need any protection at all.

From pre-peeled bananas in disproportionate amounts of plastic and pre-peeled avocado halves, to unnecessary wrappings around items such as oranges and chewing gum packets, these items have potentially the most wasteful packaging ever. 

Instagram account Pointless Packaging is dedicated to sharing picture of unnecessary wrapping around food, such as this plastic wrap around some bananas

Shopper Rebecca Nelson snapped this waste of packaging at a branch of Nisa in the UK 

One Imgur user snapped this enormous unit full of bananas kept in unnecessary plastic boxes

Another was furious when she ordered some jelly beans off the Internet and found they were individually wrapped in plastic

Oranges are one of the easiest fruits to peel but clearly there is a demand for pre-segmented oranges as this store sells them in excessive amounts of plastic packaging

Instagram account Pointless Packaging spotted these examples of wasteful wrapping by M&S in the UK. One packet contained a single lime leaf 

While another featured a pre-peeled  mango in a large plastic box 

Did these two shallots need a plastic box to protect them?

At this store, every carrot has been individually wrapped in plastic

Eggs are traditionally stored in cardboard boxes which decompose quickly and are recyclable - but M&S sells premium eggs in plastic

Potatoes are cheap as, well, chips but one retailer has decided to package them up individually, costing the customer more and harming the planet

Avocados have a natural coating that protects the insides from degrading - but this retailer has wrapped them in lots of plastic and bumped up the price just for convenience

The shopper was infuriated by these coconuts - the shell of which is designed to protect the fruit - being wrapped in plastic

These avocados have been taken out of their natural coating and put in plastic just for convenience

Was this large plastic bag necessary for two aubergines at Sainsbury's?

These apples were stored in a plastic tube at an M&S store

This lettuce came in a plastic bag that was far too big for the vegetable

These giant plastic TicTac boxes each contain 60 mini plastic boxes - a huge waste of plastic

These slices of bread were individually wrapped in plastic, one shopper spotted

Is there any need for this? This Chinese store wraps Coca-Cola cans in plastic - a very excessive use of wrapping

Oranges have a natural coating to protect the sweet flesh within - so why did this store feel the need to peel them and then protect them in a plastic box?

The great thing about potatoes is that they already have a coating that protects the inside from damage and disease - but this US store didn't take any chances

One store in the US wrapped up its tins of cram meat in extra plastic - a needless waste.

Another shopper spied a very small knife in plastic packaging that was far too big.

This shopper hilariously commented on this picture with: 'If only bananas had robust, natural, bio degradable packaging of their own'.