The 12-week trial is Sainsbury’s another step towards achieving its commitment to reduce plastics by 50% by 2025
Image: Sainsbury’s has launched a new trial to reduce plastic packaging in fresh floral ranges. Photo: courtesy of Sainsbury's.
British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has launched a new 12-week trial to test recyclable paper packaging for fresh flowers.
The new trial, which will be carried out in 167 Sainsbury’s stores, will help minimise plastic packaging in fresh floral ranges on a large scale.
The move is part of the company’s commitment to reduce plastics by 50% by 2025 across all of its food operations.
Sainsbury’s trial to reduce plastic packaging n fresh floral ranges on a large scale
Under the trial, the supermarket chain will replace the plastic sleeves with recyclable paper packaging for over one million fresh floral bunches and bouquets, reducing 10 tonnes of plastic.
The retailer will also replace the sticky tape with recyclable paper tape for wrapping of the flowers.
The supermarket chain has worked with its suppliers to complete paper wrapping at the point of manufacture instead of removing plastic wrapping from the flowers and replaced with paper.
Sainsbury’s will oversee the supply chain process and customer feedback for the next 12 weeks to evaluate the overall performance of the trial to take further decision on next steps.
Sainsbury’s is also said to be the first retailer to launch a pre-cycling scheme across England and Scotland, enabling customers to deposit their unwanted plastic packaging before leaving the store.
Sainsbury’s Brand director Judith Batchelar said: “We are proud to be the first retailer to trial a large scale reduction of fresh floral plastics across 167 of our stores. Our customers have made it clear that they want us to reduce plastic packaging.
“This initiative is very much a testing and learning activity for us, so we will be seeking feedback from customers as well as getting a better understanding of how our supply chain manages the new packaging throughout.”
In July this year, Sainsbury’s also launched reusable produce bags trial at its Lincoln and Kidlington superstores, as part of its sustainable efforts.