Tesco closes doors on plastic rings and shrink wrap for beers and ciders

12 May 2021 --- Tesco is scrapping soft plastic rings and shrink wrap packaging from all beers and ciders in its UK stores from this month in collaboration with leading beverage companies. 

The move will lead to an estimated 50 million fewer pieces of non-recycled plastic being produced each year.

“We are working hand in hand with some of the world’s biggest brands to tackle the problem of unnecessary plastic,” says Sarah Bradbury, Tesco’s quality director.

“Our mission is to remove, reduce, reuse and recycle (“4Rs”) so we use as little material as possible and ensure all the packaging in our stores can be easily recycled.”

Remove, reduce, reuse and recycle
Last year, as a part of its “4Rs” strategy to tackle the use of plastics in its business, Tesco announced its ambition to remove one billion pieces of plastic from products for sale in stores nationwide by the end of 2020. 

Plastic rings are lambasted by environmental groups as major contributors to ocean pollution and endangering wildlife, such as birds and turtles.

Tesco has stopped accepting beer and ciders with soft plastic rings or shrink wraps.Tesco expects to sell through the last remaining stock in the coming weeks and will not order beers or ciders using this packaging in the future.

As a part of its “4Rs” strategy, the supermarket giant says it has already hit its target of removing a billion pieces of plastic, including tinned multipacks, lids and the small bags used to pack loose fruit and veg.

In related developments, Mondi revealed it is purchasing Tesco Central Europe’s warehouse corrugated waste and creating recycled paper for the retailer’s shopping bags. 

Moreover, a Tesco’s trial previously demonstrated that soft plastic can be continuously recycled into food-grade cheese packaging. Tesco partnered with Plastic Energy, SABIC, Sealed Air and Bradburys Cheese to prove soft plastic can be recycled as part of a closed-loop recycling system.

Heineken’s Green Grip
Beer and cider brands who sell to Tesco will now use alternative materials for multipacks, such as cardboard sleeves, boxes, or rigid plastic easily recycled via kerbside collections. 

For example, Heineken has stopped using plastic rings in favor of a cardboard alternative called the “Green Grip.”

Heineken’s Green Grip topper is 100 percent recyclable and made from sustainably sourced cardboard. The solution is now used on some of the UK’s most popular beer and cider brands, including Heineken, Foster’s and Strongbow.

James Crampton, corporate affairs director for Heineken UK, says: “Never has sustainability been so high on the agenda and we are incredibly proud to work with Tesco, who like us, see the important role we both play in helping to protect the future of our planet.”

“Green Grip eliminates the plastic rings on cans of beer and cider – it’s a game-changer that impacts hundreds of millions of packs of beers and ciders and removes the equivalent plastic of 94 million plastic bags.” 

WWF support
The move has also been hailed by environmental group WWF. 

Paula Chin, WWF’s sustainable materials specialist, adds: “Plastic pollution is one of the most visible symptoms of the environmental crisis and devastating our natural world. We welcome this positive action from Tesco.”

“If we are to achieve our shared goal to halve the environmental impact of the average shopping basket, we need collective action across retailers and brands to remove and reduce all problematic plastics.” 

By Kristiana Lalou