End to plastic for Iceland bananas

SUPERMARKET chain Iceland will no longer pack its bananas in plastic bags as it steps up efforts to tackle waste and pollution.

The company is switching to paperbased packs that are 100 per cent recyclable in a decision that will stop 10 million plastic bags going into the bin every year.

Iceland has led the High Street with a pledge to remove all plastic from its ownlabel products by 2023 and is calling on other retailers to follow its example.

Iceland’s new packaged bananas will be the first product in any major UK supermarket to bear the Plastic Free Trust Mark, launched by A Plastic Planet earlier this year.

Supermarkets have dramatically changed their position on packaging in the wake of the Daily Mail’s Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign and a public backlash following the Blue Planet II series, which highlighted the dangers of plastic pollution to the oceans and sea life.

Morrisons offers paper bags for fresh produce, while Waitrose is switching the black plastic lids on drinks bottles to clear plastic to boost the number that are recycled.