Tesco has removed over two billion pieces of plastic in just four years.
Since 2019, when the retailer launched its “remove, reduce, reuse and recycle” strategy, the UK’s largest supermarket has removed more than 200 million plastic bags from its Tesco.com deliveries.
As part of the drive, Tesco has also removed over 67 million tinned multipacks, and 50 million pieces of plastic from branded beers and cider and 42 million plastic forks from prepared salads and rice bowls.
Last month the supermarket teamed up with packaging manufacturer Faerch to introduce ready meal trays made of 75% recycled content, in a circular packaging solution.
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Tesco responsible sourcing director Kené Umeasigbu said: “We all have a responsibility to our planet and removing unnecessary plastic is an important way that Tesco can reduce its environmental impact.”
“As well as taking action in our own operations, we want to work with the whole industry to continue to build on the progress we’ve made to Remove, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle more.”
Supermarkets have been called out for practises such as selling fresh fruit in plastic packaging, which doesn’t make the fruit last longer but encourages consumers to buy more than they need, leading to increased waste.
In March scientists found that the ocean was littered with 171 trillion pieces of plastic.
