Tesco cans 350 tons of multipack plastic from tinned goods
24 Jan 2020 --- UK retailer Tesco will eliminate 67 million pieces of plastic from its plastic-wrapped multipacks and replace them with plastic-free multibuys for tinned food, across all of its UK stores. While still available in multibuy deals, canned soups, baked beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn and tuna will be sold individually, without plastic wrap holding them together. The move will relieve 350 tons of plastic from the environment, the company forecasts and the changes will be rolled out from March 2.
“We are removing all unnecessary and non-recyclable plastic from Tesco,” says CEO Dave Lewis. Customers can still benefit from the same “multipack” price despite removing the plastic wrap from the multipacks, he assures. On current prices, a multipack of four cans of Tesco baked beans is £1 (US$1,30), while singles are 30p (US$0,39) each.
PackagingInsights reached out to Tesco, which says that this move will not require any additional cardboard used. As is the case with multipacks, the secondary packaging used to transport the tins will be sent to Tesco’s recycling centers. Moreover, there will be no increase in greenhouse gases as a result of this announcement, the company continues.
Eliminating multipack plastic wrap marks a strategic move for the multinational, given more than 40 percent of Tesco customers include multipacks in their shop. It will also help more than eight million households in the UK reduce the amount of plastic they use, the company envisions.
Tesco is ditching multipack plastic wrap in a bid to reduce single-use plastic waste.Initially, getting rid of the in-store multipacks caused a slight drop in sales. However, Lewis affirmed they soon bounced back. ‘When we first took the plastic away, people didn’t like the inconvenience too much. But when we explain why, they understand. Customers think it is worth it to reduce plastics,” he explains. The measure is being explained on banners in stores and in information by the relevant shelves.
Last August, the supermarket also promised to eliminate “hard-to-recycle material,” setting out steps that will govern packaging design across all product categories including removing all non-recyclable material. Where it can’t remove packaging, it will reduce it to an absolute minimum.
The change applies to both Tesco own-brand products and branded tinned products from five additional companies, namely Heinz Beanz, Branston, Green Giant, Princes and John West. Multipacks of baked beans, tuna, tinned tomatoes and soup are among the most frequently-bought grocery items in the UK, the company explains.
Following roll-out, no further plastic-wrapped multipacks ordered by Tesco. Remaining stock will be allowed to sell-through.
Additional support
Tesco has received official support from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the fight against plastic pollution. “We need to remove unnecessary single-use plastic wherever possible, to stop the contamination of the natural world. If we want to protect nature we need more businesses to follow Tesco’s lead before we run out of time to fight for our world,” says Paula Chin, Sustainable Materials Specialist at WWF.
“While we know we have more to do, this initiative is good news for the environment and for the millions of people who enjoy Heinz varieties every day, as they’ll still be able to benefit from the same value for money,” echoes Georgiana de Noronha, President of Kraft Heinz Northern Europe.
As a part of its “4Rs” strategy – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – to tackle the use of plastics in its business, Tesco is exploring various opportunities to reuse its packaging and ensure that anything left is all recycled as part of a closed-loop. The company has also begun trialing the collection of difficult-to-recycle plastic packaging and recycling it by partnering with Recycling Technologies.
By Anni Schleicher
