Waitrose cuts down on its use of black plastic

Waitrose removed more than 1,300 tonnes of environmentally unfriendly black plastic from its products in 2018, the supermarket has announced.

Black plastic, which is difficult to recycle, has been removed from hundreds of Waitrose products including its own-brand fresh meat, fish, poultry, fruit and vegetable packaging.

The material is difficult to recycle so much of it ends up in landfill, according to a Waitrose statement.

Waitrose aims to remove black plastic from all its own-brand products by the end of 2019 – and said it has reduced its use of packaging by nearly 50% since 2009, and disposable coffee cups have been removed from its stores.

The supermarket is replacing loose fruit and veg bags with compostable alternatives and removing 5p single-use carrier bags later this year.