Tesco has removed over 20 million pieces of plastic from this year’s Christmas range. Crackers, lights, cards and puddings have all been produced using less single use plastic and has stopped using glitter for all single use products and packaging. Wrapping paper, gift bags, cards and crackers are all now glitter-free and widely recyclable. Their own label crackers are now plastic free and will include non-plastic presents and be sold without plastic in cardboard packaging, cutting over 14 million pieces of plastic from the seasonal range.
312,000 Christmas lights will instead be sold in recyclable cardboard packaging. Packs of Christmas cards are now plastic-free, with card multipacks sold in a recyclable cardboard box, saving 4.6 million pieces of plastic a year and a layer of plastic has been removed from Christmas puddings and sponges, removing 1.78 million pieces of plastic.
Tesco found that 74% of us have sustainability in mind when making purchasing decision, an increase of 36% year-on-year. The research also found that 51% of the nation will reuse old Christmas decorations and 32% will only buy loose fruit and veg to reduce plastic packaging. Nearly 23% will reuse wrapping paper, while 19% will try to be more sustainable by not buying gifts, wrapping or decorations made of plastic.
The removal of plastic from Christmas products comes as development teams across Tesco have been looking for ways to use less plastic as a part of its 4Rs packaging strategy: To Remove it where it can. Reduce where it can’t. Reuse more. Recycle what’s left. This will see Tesco remove all excess and non-recyclable material from its business.
GreenChew 