Sainsbury’s has announced that it will be the first retailer to replace black plastic trays from chilled ready meals, with a recyclable alternative, as it works towards meeting its goal of reducing, reusing, replacing and recycling more plastic.
Launched in all stores nationwide this week across Sainsbury’s most popular ready meals, the retailer is replacing the black pigment material previously used for ready meal trays with natural CPET, a form of recyclable plastic*. The new material will be rolled out across all chilled ready meals by November this year.
By removing black plastic from the process, all Sainsbury’s chilled ready meal trays will be easy to recycle, with the new material being easily detectable at recycling plants across the UK.
Through implementing this new solution, Sainsbury’s is set to reduce 1,003 metric tonnes of hard to recycle plastic each year as it strives towards meeting its sustainable goals. The announcement comes as another step change towards reducing unnecessary plastic on shelves.
Judith Batchelar, Director of Sainsbury’s brand, comments: “This is a fantastic development in sustainable packaging innovation and we’re proud to be introducing our new, fully recyclable ready meal trays this week. Our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment is ongoing and the announcement today is an addition to the wider steps we have taken as a business this year.”
Earlier this week, Sainsbury’s also announced a trial to remove all single use plastic bags from its fruit and vegetable aisles, offering customers reusable drawstring bags for loose produce.
