Sainsbury’s has become the latest supermarket retailer to promise to the end the use of difficult-to-recycle dark coloured plastics on its products. The move will happen across its fresh foods by the end of 2019 and entirely by March 2020.
Sainsbury’s is also planning to introduce a trial scheme for customers to ‘pre-cycle’ by providing an area where shoppers can remove unwanted primary and secondary packaging in store and leave it for recycling. The retailer stated that this means food remains protected through the supply chain, but offers the customer the option to recycle before they take the item home.
As with its rivals, Sainsbury’s has been working to reduce the use of plastic packaging. Over the next twelve months, it plans remove a further 1,280 tonnes of plastic from products and ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
Chief Executive Mike Coupe said: “We are serious about reducing plastic. For many years, Sainsbury’s has prioritised sustainability and sought innovative solutions to reduce plastic packaging and increase recycling. Today’s announcements show what we have already achieved and demonstrate our firm commitments for the future to make significant reductions in plastic use.”
