The new trial of refillable Ecover stations has been has been launched at Sainsbury’s Harringay superstore
UK-based supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has launched a new trial of refillable Ecover stations, as part of commitment to sustainability.
The trial, which started on 26 February, is part of the company’s efforts to become Net Zero across its operations by 2040.
As part of trial in the Sainsbury’s Harringay superstore, customers are being offered with refill options for selected Ecover cleaning products, including dish-washing liquid and laundry detergent. Customers will have option to refill bottles up to 50 times.
Ecover long-term innovation global head Tom Domen said: “As manufacturers, we believe we need to totally re-think plastic – how we make it, use it, re-use it and recycle it.
“At Ecover, we want to challenge the idea of single-use packaging and our disposable culture. This partnership with Sainsbury’s is an important step in kick-starting a ‘refillution’ in the UK and realising our goal of making refills more accessible for everyone.”
Trial planned to be extended to 19 stores in 2020
Planned to be extended to a further 19 stores later this year, the pilot is expected to help in saving over a million tonnes of plastic per year.
The refillable Ecover trial is the retailer’s latest in a series of store initiatives aimed at reducing, reusing or replacing plastic across its operations.
In January 2020, the retailer pledged to become Net Zero by 2040 through various measures including recycling, plastic packaging, carbon reduction and others.
Last year, Sainsbury’s has launched a new 12-week trial to test recyclable paper packaging for fresh flowers.
The trial, which is expected to help minimise plastic packaging in fresh floral ranges on a large scale, is part of the company’s commitment to reduce plastics by 50% by 2025 across all of its food operations.