Sainsbury’s is swapping the plastic straws on its own-brand drinks cartons for a widely recyclable paper alternative.
The initiative would remove 18.5 million plastic straws and 6.6 tonnes of single-use plastic from circulation each year, the retailer said.
The new paper alternatives are being launched across Sainsbury’s 12-strong juice cartons range today, and will be available in all stores and online by mid-April.
The retailer said it was also currently working to replace the plastic sleeve for the straws with one made from alternative materials.
“As we work to reduce, reuse, replace and recycle plastic packaging, we’re committed to trialling and testing innovative new packaging alternatives for our products,” said Sainsbury’s director of product and innovation Claire Hughes. “Removing 18.5 million straws from circulation each year is a huge achievement and brings us closer to our goal.”
The move is part of Sainsbury’s ambition to halve its use of plastic packaging by 2025 and become net zero in its operations by 2040.
“Looking forward, we will continue to work closely with our suppliers, manufacturers, customers and other retailers to reduce the amount of single-use plastic across the supply chain, whilst also investing in research & development of materials and technologies,” added Hughes.
“We look forward to listening to feedback from our colleagues and customers about this latest packaging move.”
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