Waitrose announced last year that it would phase out all plastic carrier bags from its store by March 2019 to save 500 tons of plastic waste a year. The supermarket pledged to replace its small fruit and veg bags with a compostable version, made from corn starch.
Now, in an effort to build onto what they’re already doing to be more sustainable, the supermarket chain is going ‘packaging-free’ at the Botley Road branch in Oxford. This trial run is to last until August. The prices for the refillable items will be up to 15% cheaper than the packaged alternatives across the board.
Tor Harris, from Waitrose & Partners, said, “We are determined to build on the work we’ve already done to reduce packaging, and this test will take our efforts to a whole new level as we help the growing number of customers who want to shop in a more sustainable way. This test has huge potential to shape how people might shop with us in the future, so it will be fascinating to see which concepts our customers have an appetite for.”
Shoppers will be able to buy frozen mango, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, pineapple and raspberries, four wines and four beers on tap; four types of coffee that can be ground and 28 other grocery products including pasta, rice, grains, couscous, lentils, cereals, dried fruit and seeds available through dispensers. They will also have Ecover detergent and washing-up liquid available to refill. In addition, flowers and plants will be wrapped with 100% recyclable craft paper, and plastic packaging has been ditched on 160 loose fruit and vegetable products, according to The Guardian.
All you have to do is go through your cupboards for suitable containers and you’ll probably find lots that you could recycle. For example, you can use reusable cereal containers (perfect for pasta, lentils, and other dried goods), clip-lock lunchboxes for frozen fruit, or an old jam jar for that ground coffee. If you don’t have any reusable containers, don’t worry, there will be a range of reusable Tupperware on sale in-store.
Ariana Densham, an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said, “This is a genuinely bold step from Waitrose to trial food dispensers so customers can use refillable tubs and jars. Lots of supermarkets are starting to sell loose fruit and vegetables, but this kind of innovation could spark a refill culture that’s so desperately needed to cut plastics in mainstream shops. The top 10 UK supermarkets produce 810,000 tonnes of throwaway packaging each year, so we need to see other major retailers taking plastic reduction seriously and following Waitrose’s lead.”
This is the first time the “unpackaged” model relying on refills is being used at a national supermarket chain. Another trial retail format they are debuting is a borrow-a-box scheme to help carry shopping home. For the borrow-a-box scheme, customers will pay a £5 deposit, which is refundable when the container is returned.
