Tesco is partnering with sustainable resource management company, Veolia, Groundwork and local councils to introduce greener areas in schools and educate children about the environment.
The Veolia Orchard campaign is donating almost 600 fruit trees and 800 strawberry plants to schools limited by space or without green areas.
To house the plants, Tesco will be donating planters made from recycled soft plastic such as bread bags, carrier bags and pasta packets collected from its in-store drop off points.
As a result, this will help to recycle around 7.3 tonnes of materials.
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The apple trees, pear trees and strawberry plants provided by Grow at Brogdale will be delivered to the winning schools in November when the plants are in hibernation, giving them the best chance of surviving the British winter.
Tesco packaging campaigns manager, Courtney Pallett, said: “Our in-store recycling points help make soft plastics even easier for our customers to recycle.
“We’re delighted to be working with Veolia to turn the plastic waste we collect into something new – keeping it out of the environment and helping create greener learning spaces for children in our local communities.”
Veolia managing director municipal, Pascal Hauret, added: “Improving air quality around schools, engaging pupils on the power of plants and finding innovative recycling solutions which contribute the greatest benefit to the communities we serve is all part of our purpose to deliver ecological transformation.”
This comes as Tesco began trialling a new in-store campaign earlier this month, turning broken plastic toys into books and reading resources for UK schools.
Launching in partnership with Hasbro and environmental education company, Wastebuster, the initiative encourages children and families to recycle their broken hard plastic toys via bins in selected Tesco stores.
