Another Store Chain Trims Plastic Usage

Co-Op Supermarkets To Introduce Compostable Bags

In keeping in step with the recently announced decision by U.S. grocery giant Kroger to sack plastic bags and other single-use plastics, British retailer Co-op has said it will replace its grocery bags with environmentally friendly equivalents and make food packaging easier to recycle.

A big first step involves replacing the 60 million plastic grocery bags the chain hands out each year to shoppers at its 1,400 stores in England, Scotland and Wales.

The plan is being lauded by us here at COAST is Clear and other environmental organizations and initiatives.

According to CNBC, the new lightweight, compostable bags will cost shoppers about 7 cents apiece. Meanwhile, Co-op's branded packaging will become easier to recycle over the next five years, while its signature black and dark plastic packaging will become history within a year or two.

The corporation also plans to use recycled plastic in 50 percent or more of its bottles, trays and other store items.

"[The compostable bags are] a simple but ingenious way to provide an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags," said Jo Whitfield, Co-op's retail chief executive, said Sept. 22. "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."

Co-op is one of the U.K.'s biggest retailers – a fact that makes this new environmentally friendly direction more exciting for friends of the planet.

The list of corporations planning to cut single-use plastics from their offerings is growing. In the U.K and around d the globe. In addition to Kroger here in America, British frozen food specialist Iceland recently committed to eliminating plastic packaging by 2023.

Waitrose & Partners has also made a move towards replacing plastic bags with compostable alternatives for its fruit and vegetables. The U.K. supermarket chain has pledged to phase out plastic shopping bags entirely by spring.

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