We've launched Europe’s most extensive in-store recycling scheme for plastic bags and product wrapping. The rollout of our scheme makes us the first UK supermarket to have fully recyclable food packaging by the end of this month (July) and, helping tackle the confusing postcode lottery of kerbside collections.
Recycling units for ‘soft’ plastics will launched in 1,500 Co-op stores this month and it'll reach 2,300 stores by November. The initiative ensures all Co-op’s own food packaging is easily recyclable by establishing an accessible disposal route for materials which are unlikely to be collected by UK councils, including: crisp packets, bread bags, single-use carrier bags and bags-for-life, lids from ready meals and yogurt pots, biscuit wrappers and pet-food pouches.
The in-store units – which also accept packaging for food products purchased in other retailers - means that all our own food packaging is easy-to-recycle either via kerbside collection or through the in-house closed loop system. We expect 300 tonnes of plastic bags and food wrapping to be collected per year once the bins are fully in place.The national roll-out of the scheme follows a successful 50 store film collection trial last year which found that 86% of shoppers were likely to use the service. It is also designed to reassure concerned communities that the plastics collected will be recycled in the UK. The recyclable material is turned, by Jayplas, into post-consumer plastic granules which are then made into useful secondary products – including: bin liners; rigid products such as buckets, and material for the construction industry - rather than flooding land-fill sites, going to incineration or, being shipped overseas.
In some areas, less than 30 per cent of waste from households is currently recycled, with systems which can vary from council to council adding to the confusion. Estimates from WRAP suggest that just 6% of plastic bags and wrapping from UK households is recycled each year, while (by weight) it makes up around a fifth of all plastic packaging.
The elimination of unnecessary plastics is balanced against the need to minimise food waste.The roll-out will be supported by a nationwide, multi-channel marketing campaign – as part of a new partnership with ITV, a new Co-op TV Ad will debuted during the Coronation Street ad-break on Friday 9 July.
Co-op has always been at the forefront of removing hidden plastic and unnecessary packaging, from removing plastic stems from cotton buds before any other retailer 14 years ago, banning microbeads and, removing black (so called ‘vanity’) plastic from shelves in 2019.
Helen Bird, Strategic Technical Manager from WRAP, said: “There’s no doubt that unnecessary plastic needs to be reduced; including bags and wrapping which is a fifth of all consumer plastic packaging. However, where it is necessary it is urgent to design it for recycling and ensure recycling systems are in place. It’s great to see the roll out of collections across Co-op’s stores significantly contributing to the goal of The UK Plastics Pact for all plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2025. Not only is the Co-op ensuring that the service is widely promoted, it is processing the material within the UK, demonstrating how we can build back better for the economy and environment.”
In May, we unveiled our new ten-point climate plan which sets out a blueprint for us to achieve net zero for direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2040, including offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions of Co-op products and services.