Tesco has removed more than one and a half billion pieces of plastic from its UK business since it launched its strategy to remove it from packaging.
Under the 4Rs, launched in August 2019, the supermarket pledged to remove plastic where it could, reduce where it couldn’t, reuse more, and recycle what’s left.
Tesco revealed in the past 12 months, 500 million pieces of unnecessary plastic had been identified and removed. This included more than 200 million bags from Tesco.com deliveries, 42 million plastic forks from prepared salads and rice bowls, 14 million plastic chicken trays from whole chickens and nearly 50 million own-brand plastic straws.
The 4Rs strategy has seen Tesco’s suppliers come under major pressure to reduce plastic, with the supermarket saying it reserved the right to delist products with excessive packaging or hard to recycle materials. Tesco stressed it had supported suppliers to develop more sustainable packaging solutions.
Tesco said it was determined to tackle plastic waste and continue to drive the use of reuse options.
In September last year, in partnership with Loop, Tesco began trialling a range of food, drink, household and beauty products in reusable packaging.
It is currently available in 10 large Tesco stores, where shoppers can buy products in packaging that can be returned to store when finished so it can be cleaned, refilled and used again.
“We all have a responsibility to take care of our planet and removing unnecessary plastic is an important way that Tesco can reduce its environmental impact,” said Tesco quality director Sarah Bradbury. “While we are proud of this achievement, we know we have more to do and our work to tackle the impact of plastic waste will continue in 2022 and beyond.”
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