Supermarket chain The Co-op is removing single-use plastic carrier bags from almost 1,400 Food stores and replacing them with compostable bags that can also be used as liners for food waste caddies. It says it is the UK’s first retailer to make this move.
The bags will be issued to stores in areas where the local council accepts separate food waste as part of household collections. The 5p bags are biodegradable in large compost systems and will remove 339 tons of plastic from circulation, The Co-op said. The retailer has previously pledged to ban single-use plastic from its own-brand products, reduce plastic packaging by 2023 and stop using hard-to-recycle materials such as black plastic.
Meanwhile, rival supermarket chain Tesco has pledged to remove 1 billion pieces of plastic from products by the end of 2020. The move is part of Tesco’s “4Rs strategy” – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – under which it is taking action to remove non-recyclable and excess packaging across its operations, and reducing it to a minimum if it is necessary (for example, to prevent food waste).
Tesco says it can meet the 1 billion target by no longer using: small plastic bags for fruit, veg and bakery items (using paper bags instead); plastic trays in ready meals; secondary lids on products such as yoghurts; plastic sporks and straws on pots and cartons; and plastic to package clothes and greetings cards. The supermarket previously stopped using plastic bags with online deliveries, which it says means 250 million fewer bags are being produced annually.
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Supermarket chain The Co-op is removing single-use plastic carrier bags from almost 1,400 Food stores and replacing them with compostable bags that can also be used as liners for food waste caddies. It says it is the UK’s first retailer to make this move.
The bags will be issued to stores in areas where the local council accepts separate food waste as part of household collections. The 5p bags are biodegradable in large compost systems and will remove 339 tons of plastic from circulation, The Co-op said. The retailer has previously pledged to ban single-use plastic from its own-brand products, reduce plastic packaging by 2023 and stop using hard-to-recycle materials such as black plastic.
Meanwhile, rival supermarket chain Tesco has pledged to remove 1 billion pieces of plastic from products by the end of 2020. The move is part of Tesco’s “4Rs strategy” – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – under which it is taking action to remove non-recyclable and excess packaging across its operations, and reducing it to a minimum if it is necessary (for example, to prevent food waste).
Tesco says it can meet the 1 billion target by no longer using: small plastic bags for fruit, veg and bakery items (using paper bags instead); plastic trays in ready meals; secondary lids on products such as yoghurts; plastic sporks and straws on pots and cartons; and plastic to package clothes and greetings cards. The supermarket previously stopped using plastic bags with online deliveries, which it says means 250 million fewer bags are being produced annually.