Sainsbury’s pledges to halve plastic packaging

SAINSBURY’S has pledged to halve plastic packaging by 2025 by introducing refillable cartons and bottles for everything from milk to breakfast cereals, pasta and laundry liquid.

Britain’s second biggest supermarket is considering returnable and refillable milk bottles, or selling milk in pouches to be put in a long-life jug kept in the fridge.

Waitrose, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and others are trialling ‘bring your own’ packaging, where shoppers buy food and other products by weight.

Sainsbury’s is also running a trial to allow people to remove excess packaging at stores and doing away with plastic wrapping from fruit and vegetables.

Chief executive Mike Coupe said: ‘Reducing plastic and packaging is not easy. Packaging plays a vital role in keeping our food safe and fresh and minimising food waste.

We must therefore find alternatives to plastic that protect the quality of our food while minimising our impact on the environment.’ The retailer will remove plastic packaging from many products or use alternatives, such as paper and cardboard.

Loose produce bags will be gone from all stores by October and plastic trays are being removed from asparagus, sweetcorn, tomatoes, carrots and herb pots.

Trays made from PVC and polystyrene, which are difficult to recycle, will be replaced with recyclable alternatives.

Plastic film on fruit and veg will be replaced by the end of 2020 and water stands will be available to refill bottles in 326 of the supermarket’s cafe’s.

Customers are being encouraged to bring their own containers to meat and deli counters and there will be more recycling facilities in its car parks.

Boris Johnson yesterday hinted at a law to ban polluting plastic packaging waste being sent overseas.

Every year the UK sends more than half a million tons to countries such as Malaysia and Turkey which environmental groups fear is burned, buried or dumped.

No 10’s plans could appear in the Queen’s speech next month.