The five-month trial is part of Tesco’s 4R plan for packaging, Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The five-month trial at 11 Tesco stores aims to collect cartons at in-store recycling points. (Credit: The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE))
UK-based supermarket chain Tesco, food manufacturer Kellogg and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) have launched a trial to collect cartons at in-store recycling points.
The five-month trial forms part of Tesco’s 4R plan for packaging, Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Carton recycling points to be installed at 11 Tesco stores
Under the trial, the firms will introduce carton recycling points at 11 Tesco stores in England and Wales to assess customers’ awareness of returning packaging to stores for recycling.
Tesco packaging head James Bull said: “We are overhauling our packaging by removing unnecessary and non-recyclable packaging from our business and will make sure everything we use can be recycled continuously.
“Inconsistency in the UK’s recycling infrastructure remains a problem and it is vital that the Government quickly implements its plans for collection across councils. In the meantime, we will test new in-store recycling facilities for packaging such as cartons to see if we can improve recycling rates.”
ACE UK said that the new carton recycling points can be leveraged as a short-term recycling solution for Pringles.
Pringles, the snack brand owned by Kellogg, is working to improve the recyclability of the Pringles tube to make it recyclable in household collections. It is also testing a ‘widely recyclable’ paper packaging solution.
Kellogg UK managing director Chris Silcock said: “We know people want to be able to recycle their Pringles tubes. This trial will allow our shoppers to return them to be recycled into something new and is an important step to help us assess the success of in-store collection for Pringles.”
Kellogg has committed to making all of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by the end of 2025.