Fruit and veg drop plastic packaging in Tesco trial

Tesco said it will remove plastic packaging from 45 fruit and veg products
Tesco said it will remove plastic packaging from 45 fruit and veg products

Fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic in Tesco will have their packaging dropped in a move to cut down on plastic use.

In a a month-long trial, the UK's largest retailer said it will remove plastic packaging from 45 fruit and vegetables, including onions, apples and mushrooms.

Tesco Extra in Watford and Swindon will participate in the trial. Sarah Bradbury, director of quality at Tesco, said: “We hope this trial proves popular with customers. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the results, including any impact on food waste.”

Marks & Spencer is also reducing the amount of plastic it. It launched a trial in January to drop plastic packaging from 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables.

Meanwhile, the farming industry is also joining in on efforts to cut down on plastic waste

Cotteswold Dairy, based in Gloucestershire, is joining in the effort to crack down on plastic waste in its dairies, by using glass bottles for its milk.

The bottles can be rinsed and reused on an average of 50 trips. The dairy said milk stored in glass bottles 'tastes better', too.

Muller, Britain’s biggest producer of fresh milk, has confirmed its intention to acquire the capability to manufacture its own fresh milk packaging in the UK to reduce use of plastic.

Muller has also rolled out a new recyclable milk cap which uses 13% less plastic material.

And a Scottish dairy farmer successfully raised over £10,000 in stop the use of single-use plastics on his farm.