ASDA has announced reusable and refillable packaging trials for three months next year in a bid to reduce its environmental impact. 

Asda plans to source a third of its own-brand plastic packaging from recycled materials by the end of 2020 effectively reducing 19,500 tonnes of non-recycled plastic use.

To achieve its goals, the Walmart based company has said that it will run a 3-month trial where shoppers will bring in containers which can be refilled from dispensers within the store.

Asda chief executive Roger Burnley said: “The elimination of avoidable plastic, and crucially single-use plastic, is at the top of our minds – and at the top of our customers’ minds. 

“Our focus is on removing unnecessary plastic, and where packaging is beneficial to the life of a product we will trial new solutions that are as recycled and as recyclable as possible.”

The supermarket declared that it has already removed 6,500 tonnes of plastic used in its own brand since 2018 and is working to make all of its own brand packaging recyclable by 2025.

Plastic free

Other supermarkets have also introduced measures to become more eco conscious.

Sainsbury’s has pledged to halve is plastic use by 2025 and plans to sell milk and fizzy drinks in returnable glass bottles in a bid to reduce 120,000 tonnes of plastic waste it generates each year.

Aldi has also announced plans to make all its own-label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022.

Tesco has announced the launch of Loop- the country’s first large-scale trial of refillable containers for online shoppers.

Beginning next year, the scheme will process online orders from 5000 customers and deliver their goods in stainless steel, aluminium, thick plastic or glass which the customers can return for reuse.

• Read: UK Halloween costumes to generate plastic waste equivalent of 83 million bottles

What else can supermarkets do to reduce plastic waste? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!