Marks and Spencer reduces plastic packaging on fruit and veg

Marks and Spencer has committed to launching additional lines of loose produce

Retail giant Marks and Spencer has committed to launching more lines of loose produce and more sustainable alternatives to plastic in every UK store, including Rochdale, which could save 580 tonnes of plastic waste over two years alone.

The plan will also involve replacing plastic produce bags with paper ones and phasing out plastic barcode stickers in favour of eco-friendly alternatives.

Additionally, Marks and Spencer has launched a trial in south London of over 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables completely free of plastic packaging. Best before date labels from have also been removed.

The range not only includes hard fruit and veg like potatoes and bananas, but also more perishable items such as soft fruits and berries, which will be retailed in compostable punnets.

To support the trial, M&S has introduced trained greengrocers, to help customers pick and weigh their products, and offer advice on how best to preserve fresh produce and prevent food waste at home.

Louise Nicholls, Head of Food Sustainability, said: “We’re proud to launch a series of market-leading initiatives to help our customers take home less plastic.

“We know our customers want to play their part in cutting out plastic, while as a business our goal is to become zero-waste by 2025. That’s why we’re working hard to reduce the amount of plastic packaging we use without compromising on food quality and contributing to waste.

“Our trial at Tolworth is an important milestone in our plastic reduction journey and bringing back the traditional greengrocer will play a key part in educating our customers.”

It is currently unknown if, or when, the trial will be rolled out to further stores like Rochdale.

The retailer has already phased out 75 million pieces of plastic cutlery given out in its stores each year and replaced two million straws with paper alternatives as part of its plastics plan, which aims to remove 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging by Spring 2019.

All of M&S’s packaging will be ‘widely recycled’ by 2022 in a bid to help customers to recycle more.