Tesco is continuing its drive to reduce the use of plastic in its business by ending the sale of plastic-wrapped multipacks of tinned food.
From March, the tins in Tesco stores will now only be available individually but still eligible for multibuy deals. The change applies to both Tesco own label lines and branded products from the likes of Heinz, Green Giant, John West and Princes.
Multipacks of baked beans, tuna, tinned tomatoes and soup are among the most frequently-bought grocery items in the UK. With 183,000 tinned multipacks bought daily at Tesco, the move its expected to remove 350 tonnes of plastic from the environment every year.
Last year, Tesco committed to remove 1bn pieces of plastic from its own label products by the end of 2020. The retailer has also told its suppliers that packaging will form a key part of its decision-making process when determining which products are sold in its stores. It has stated that it reserves the right to no longer stock lines that use excessive or hard to recycle materials.
The group’s CEO Dave Lewis said today: “We are removing all unnecessary and non-recyclable plastic from Tesco.”
Georgiana de Noronha, President of Kraft Heinz Northern Europe, added: “We’re excited to be partnering with Tesco on this. While we know we have more to do, this initiative is good news for the environment, and for the millions of people who enjoy Heinz varieties every day, as they’ll still be able to benefit from the same great value for money.”
