Tesco vows to remove 1 billion pieces of plastic packaging by end-2020

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco has pledged to remove one billion pieces of plastic packaging from products in its UK stores by the end of 2020, seeking to reduce its environmental impact and meet growing consumer demand for less waste.

Last year Tesco said it wanted to remove hard-to-recycle materials from its business. It said on Friday it will have eliminated the hardest-to-recycle materials from its own brand products by the end of this year, removing over 4,000 tonnes of materials from 800 lines. It said it is also working with branded suppliers on this.

Tesco, which trades from 3,787 stores in Britain and Ireland, employing 340,000 people, now plans to remove the small plastic bags commonly used to pack loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items and replace them with paper ones.

Via Reuters