Waitrose vows to save half-a-million plastic bags

Sunday 30 December 2018

Customers are being urged to bring reusable containers to purchase products from Waitrose fresh service counters in a bid to help the supermarket save half-a-million plastic bags a year in the Channel Islands.

Earlier this year the supermarket committed to removing loose fruit and vegetable plastic bags by spring 2019.

Signs have now gone up around the meat and fish counters in Waitrose's five Channel Islands stores inviting customers to bring containers, rather than taking a plastic bag. Containers must be clean and have a lid so that customers can take their purchases home.

Local environmentalist Sheena Brockie showed Express how to shop without plastic.

Marion Gorrod, Branch Manager at Waitrose in St. Saviour, said: “Our long term aim is to remove bags completely from our counters or find a suitable alternative for meat and fish in the same way have with fruit and veg bags when they are introduced next year.

"We haven’t as yet found that option and know we can’t remove them overnight as buying food from the counters has become part of many customers regular shop. The signs, as well as the conversations our Partners are being encouraged to have with customers, are designed to help us work with our customers to do something sooner.”

Pictured: Waitrose say it will try to sell more fruit and vegetable loose next year.

Waitrose also recently confirmed its target to make all own-brand packaging widely-recycled, reusable or home compostable has been brought forward from 2025 to 2023. This will result in the replacement of approximately 11,000 tonnes of non-recycled plastic with more sustainable alternatives, in those two years alone 

Next year Waitrose will also be trialling more refillable alternatives for some products as well as selling more fruit and vegetables loose.