Co-op bans single-use plastics and unveils compostable carrier bags

The Co-op will introduce compostable carrier bags to tackle plastic pollution

The Co-op supermarket has become the latest supermarket to tackle plastic pollution by announcing an end to single-use plastics and introducing compostable carrier bags.

In a phased rollout, around 60 million plastic carrier bags will be removed and replaced with an environmentally-friendly alternative.

The Co-op will ban single-use own-brand plastic products and reduce its overall use of plastic packaging within five years and stop using hard to recycle materials, like black plastic.

As part of the commitment, lightweight compostable carrier bags, which can be used to carry shopping home and then be re-used as food waste caddy liners, will be rolled out to almost 1,400 Co-op food stores, initially in towns, cities and villages where the bags are accepted in food waste collections.

The new bags will substitute standard plastic single-use carriers with fully certified compostable carriers of the same size and strength at 5p.

The Co-op’s pledge on plastic will see all its own-brand packaging become easy to recycle by 2023. It has promised to use a minimum of 50% recycled plastic in bottles, pots, trays and punnets by 2021.

All own-brand black and dark plastic packaging, including black ready meal trays, will be eliminated by 2020.

Speaking on Saturday (22 September), Jo Whitfield, Retail Chief Executive, Co-op, said: “The price of food wrapped in plastic has become too much to swallow and, from today, the Co-op will phase out any packaging which cannot be reused.

“The first step to remove single-use plastic, will be to launch compostable carrier bags in our stores. They are a simple but ingenious way to provide an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags.”

She added: “Our ban on single-use plastic is central to our new ethical blue-print. The Co-op was founded on righting wrongs, and we first campaigned to stop food fraud. Now we face huge global challenges and have created a recipe for sustainability to source responsibly, treat people with fairness and produce products which have minimal impact on the planet.

“We can’t do it alone, which is why partnerships are key to our plan.”