Tesco is one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK, and from the middle of last year, they no longer deliver online groceries in bags, which they feel will save approximately 2 tons of plastic each year.
Previously, delivery drivers would deliver the food in bags made from plastic that were then in crates. Now Tesco will pack the food directly into the crate, which can be an inconvenience. However, the supermarket delivery drivers will now be on hand to bring the food into the kitchen within the house.
When delivering any raw meat or fish, they will be placed inside a very small plastic carrier bag for health and safety reasons. However, they are recycled bags, still made from plastic, that the customer hands back to the driver.
Tesco says approximately 250 million fewer carrier bags will be delivered to customers each year. These measures are in line with Tesco’s packaging closed-loop system to ensure as little plastic is used as possible throughout all their deliveries.
This move meant that Tesco removed the most difficult recycling materials from its branded packaging. This equates to the removal of approximately 3000 tons of the difficult recycled plastics, with 570 products that use recyclable packaging.
WWF is the world’s leading independent conservation organisation in the UK, and they are very much in favour of the removal of plastic from grocery deliveries.
ASDA initially led the way with the removal of plastic bags on delivery services, with Tesco following shortly after.
This equates to the removal of plastic bag production of approximately 85 million each year and approximately 500 tons of plastic.
Tesco’s continual efforts to avoid using non-recyclable plastic wherever possible, as reducing the environmental impact, is extremely important to both Tesco and their customers.
The continual process of removing plastic from their store and grocery deliveries is such a simple change that has a massive impact on the use of plastic in our working environment across the globe.