Sainsbury’s has become the latest supermarket to start testing product refill options in-store as part of industry moves to cut back on the use of plastic.
Shoppers at Sainsbury’s Harringay superstore can now refill selected Ecover cleaning products such as washing up liquid and laundry detergent using bottles that can be used up to 50 times. The retailer stated that the scheme had the potential to save over a million tonnes of plastic per year with the trial set to be extended to a further 19 of its stores later this year.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Refillable packaging is just one initiative we plan to trial this year and goes to show how a small change can make a big difference. We look forward to hearing feedback from the trial with a view to rolling out more widely across the estate if successful.”
Tom Domen, Global Head of Long-Term Innovation at Ecover, added: “As manufacturers, we believe we need to totally re-think plastic – how we make it, use it, re-use it and recycle it. At Ecover we want to challenge the idea of single-use packaging and our disposable culture.”
The trial is the latest in a series of store initiatives from Sainsbury’s that aim to reduce, reuse or replace plastic across its operations. It has pledged to halve the amount of plastic used in its stores by 2025, across both branded and own label.
Other supermarkets are also testing product refill options. Waitrose began testing its ‘Unpacked’ concept at its Oxford store in June last year, while Asda plans to start trialling a refill scheme for its own food products and those of leading brands from May.
NAM Implications:
- This initiative presses all the right buttons…
- Hopefully, the retailers will have ringfenced themselves legally re naïve [or even worse malicious] shoppers that use contaminated containers for refil.
