Environmental ethics over appearance? Co-op to “test the water“ by offering recyclable – but grayer – water bottles

04 Apr 2018 --- The Co-op has unveiled plans to switch all of its bottled water to 50 percent recycled plastic (rPET) in a move which is set to test whether today’s environmentally-conscious consumer is ready to ditch more aesthetically pleasing packaging, for a cloudier looking environmentally friendly bottle.

Aesthetically, the bottles – which are 100 percent recyclable and sourced in the UK – appear darker, grayer and cloudier than those using less or no recycled plastic.

Therefore, the retailer will “test the water”, throwing down the gauntlet to gauge whether ethical consumers will turn the traditional psychology of shopping on its head when it comes to making their buying choices.

As the first retailer to make such a move, the Co-op estimates that it can save almost 350 tonnes of plastic annually when it makes the change on all of its own brand still, sparkling and flavored water later this year.

Earlier this year the Co-op confirmed it was in favor of the creation of a deposit-return scheme (DRS) to increase the overall recycling of packaging.  

The proposed DRS will see UK shoppers having to pay more for single-use beverage packages, 22p, in an attempt to limit environmental waste and littering and boost recycling. Upon return, the consumer would have the money reimbursed.

Now, just 43 percent of the 13 billion plastic bottles sold each year in the UK are recycled, and 700,000 are littered every day. In Germany, a DRS was introduced in 2003 and 99 percent of plastic bottles there are recycled state Zero Waste Europe.

Furthermore, in their retail efforts to curb the environmental impact of products, they also waged war on the “grey area” of black and, hidden, plastic. It plans to rid its aisles of so-called “vanity” black – and dark colored - plastic by 2020. This plastic is harder to detect by sorting machines due to its pigment and also contaminates the recycling stream, reducing the usefulness and value of the recovered material. It is estimated to add at least 30,000 tonnes of plastic each year to waste.

In a similar vein, British retailer Iceland announced this year that it is the first major retailer globally to go “plastic-free” and aims to complete the move by the end of 2023.

A survey for Iceland revealed support for the shift away from plastic by retailers, with 80 percent of 5,000 people polled saying they would endorse a supermarket's move to go plastic-free.

Notably, Waitrose also followed suit with an announcement that it will stop selling packs of disposable straws from September 2018. This builds on its track-record for being the first supermarket to stop selling items containing microbeads from September 2016 and switching exclusively to paper-stem cotton buds. Plastic straws will be replaced by non-plastic alternatives.

There seems to be a steady stream of British companies engaging with the environmentally conscious wishes of their consumers, and providing the necessary changes.

By Laxmi Haigh