Sainsbury’s recently announced it would be rolling out a soft plastics recycling initiative to 520 of its supermarkets following a successful trial. It allows customers to recycle packaging which would otherwise end up in a landfill. It comes as part of the supermarket’s aims to become more eco-friendly.
Under the new scheme, common household items can be recycled including crisp packets, food pouches, salad bags as well as biscuit and cake wrappers.
These types of packaging are not typically recyclable, meaning they add to landfill each year.
The new recycling points are placed at the front of stores, making it easier than ever for customers to place their items in the bins.
It comes after a WRAP report estimated that flexible film contributed towards 290,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste in 2019.
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Taking to social media to share their thoughts, shoppers praised the new system which is Sainsbury’s largest ever recycling initiative.
One person said: “Nice one Sainsbury’s, nice to see some real movement in the plastic world.”
Another wrote: “Hi Sainsbury’s, we have seen that some of your stores will be rolling out your largest flexible plastic packing system. It’s so great to hear, keep going!”
A third tweeted: “Others need to follow, I was amazed when I visited my local and saw it, looks rather easy to use too. I will definitely be making use of it.”
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“So easy to use. It’s a no brainer really, let’s save our planet and go plastic- free this July,” said a fourth.
Posting a photo of what can be recycled on social media, one woman was left impressed with the rollout nationwide.
She said: “Love this new scheme, going to make some real changes, please can you let me know which stores have these recycling collection points?”
There are 502 stores taking part in the scheme nationwide and a full list of supermarkets can be found on the Sainsbury’s website.
Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation at Sainsbury’s said: “We’re really excited to announce the mass rollout of the Flexible Plastics Recycling scheme in over 520 of our stores, helping our customers to recycle more of their plastic packaging, instead of it ending up as waste.
“Making recycling easier for our customers is a key part of our strategy to minimise the impact of single-use plastics on the environment, alongside our own ambitious target of reducing the use of plastics in our own operations by 50 percent by 2025.”
Other shoppers took to Twitter to share a full list of items that can be recycled at the dedicated points.
One customer wrote: “You can recycle bread bags, snack packets, rice bags as well as frozen food bags and salad bags.
“Interesting to see flower bags also included on the list as well as clingfilm.”
Pouches and sachets can also be recycled including toiletry refill pouches, pet food, baby pouches as well as bubble wrap and toilet roll wrapping.
Another said: “I love the idea, but Sainsbury’s need to cut down on the amount of single-use plastics in their stores too, so much everywhere.”
Supermarkets in the UK often share their plans to cut down on plastic in a bid to become more sustainable.
Aldi recently announced that it would be removing single-use plastic from all its own-brand teabags by the end of the year.
The discount retailer has also removed plastic straws from own-label juice cartons and replaced them with cardboard.