British supermarkets chain Waitrose & Partners is set to introduce multi-coloured recycled trays for its ready meals, as part of its sustainability efforts.
Image: Waitrose’s new multicoloured recycled trays designed for ready meals. Photo: courtesy of Waitrose & Partners.
Made largely from mixed coloured PET bottles and trays, the new recyclable trays are unlikely to be the same twice, allowing customers to buy a ready meal in a different colour tray on every purchase.
The packaging colour, which ranges from pink and red tones, to shades of green and blue, will vary each time during production and is dependent on what is being recycled.
Waitrose said that the ‘multi coloured swap’ allows the company to ensure that its trays are more widely recyclable.
The new trays are more widely recyclable and are expected to save 500 tonnes of black plastic going to landfill.
As part of the plan to remove all unrecyclable black plastic by the end 2019, the retailer has already eradicated the use of black plastic on its fresh meat, fish, poultry, fruit and veg packaging.
Waitrose & Partners packaging manager Karen Graley said: “This is an exciting example of packaging innovation that helps us move even more ready meals out of hard-to-recycle black plastic into a rainbow of recycled content that can be recycled again and again.”
By 2023, Waitrose & Partners aims to make all of its own-brand packaging widely-recycled, reusable or home compostable.
With 85% of the plastic widely recyclable for own-brand product packaging, Waitrose has replaced loose fruit and veg bags with home compostable alternatives.
In a separate statement, Waitrose & Partners said it plans to close seven of its supermarkets in the UK, likely in autumn 2019, affecting nearly 700 jobs.
Commenting on the closure decision, Waitrose & Partners shop trade director Mark Gifford said: “We haven’t taken this decision lightly but we have to do what’s right for the business as a whole.
“Thanks to the hard work of all our Partners we’re making good progress and Waitrose & Partners is on track for profit growth this year but, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we haven’t been able to find a way to make these shops profitable in the long term.”