UK- British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer, Tesco has now removed more than two billion pieces of plastic from its UK business in 4 years.
The retailer has been working to reduce its plastic usage since it launched its 4Rs packaging strategy, known as Remove, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle in 2019.
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.
Other annual plastic savings include 24 million plastic windows removed from doughnut packaging and nine million pieces removed from nappy packaging.
Tesco says that in the last 12 months, it has identified and removed 500 million pieces of unnecessary plastic.
Tesco’s responsible sourcing director Kené Umeasiegbu said: “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.
“As well as taking action in our 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.”
Tesco has achieved a 55% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by banning plastic wet wipes and removing 2 billion pieces of plastic from its stores, the grocery retailer has revealed.
To continue its efforts, the supermarket giant has published a new strategic report aimed to help retailers, industry and the government transform the UK’s approach to packaging.
This includes creating a level playing field when it comes to removing packaging in produce and ensuring a deposit return scheme is viable and sustainable.
Tesco’s 4Rs strategy has seen a business-wide program that assesses every piece of packaging and removes all unnecessary and non-recyclable material.
The retailer initiated action by giving its suppliers a list of preferred materials that are easier to recycle and stated that it reserves the right to no longer stock products in excessive packaging or hard-to-recycle materials.
Meanwhile, in April, the retailer partnered with packaging manufacturer Faerch Group to start a tray-to-tray initiative to recycle used plastic food trays back into the packaging and create a circular economy for its core chilled ready meals range.
According to the retailer, its ready meal trays already contain up to 75% recycled content – largely sourced from bottle flake, as it is cleaner and easier to recycle.
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