Sainsbury’s scraps plastic bags in veg aisle

SAINSBURY’S has laid claim to being the first supermarket to remove plastic bags for its loose fruit, veg and bakery items across all stores.

By September, paper bags will replace plastic ones. Customers wanting fruit and veg can bring their own bags or buy reusable ones made from recycled materials.

The store aims to reduce plastic output by 489 tons a

‘It’s common sense to get rid of plastic produce bags and bakery bags’

year. It will also reduce the amount of plastic used in packaged fruit and veg as well as sleeves from herb pots and lids for cream pots. Non-recyclable plastics such as black trays, fruit-and-veg wrap, egg trays and cutlery will also be removed.

The supermarket took the step after its plastic policies were rated the worst in Britain by Greenpeace and the Environmental Investigation Agency.

From January 2018 to this March, they found that Sainsbury’s had made the least progress on plastic reduction pledges. Of the top four supermarkets, Sainsbury’s had the most complaints about plastics online last year. Ariana Densham, of Greenpeace UK, said: “We’ve been urging Sainsbury’s to take action on plastics after it came bottom of our supermarket plastics league table last year.

“Sainsbury’s has an annual plastic footprint of nearly 120,000 tons, so this pledge to reduce plastics by one per cent is a very small step in the right direction, but nowhere near enough.

“It’s common sense to get rid of plastic produce bags and bakery bags. We hope to see more measures like this.”

Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “We are committed to reducing unnecessary plastic packaging in Sainsbury’s stores. Our customers expect us to lead the way on major issues like this, so I am determined to remove and replace plastic packaging where we can and offer alternatives.”

Other supermarkets are also trying to go plastic-free. One Waitrose store is asking its customers to bring their own containers for fruit and veg, wine, pasta, rice and cleaning materials. Tesco is trialling plastics-free fruit and veg, as is Morrison’s.