Morrisons is becoming the first supermarket chain to remove packaging from its vegetables and fruits.
According to the company, customers would be able to select out of up to 127 varieties of fruit and vegetables in many of its stores, buying them loose or putting them in recyclable paper bags.
However, there will continue to be a neighboring section where customers can still buy packaged veggies if they choose, according to Scotsman.
The move follows a 10-month trial in three English stores where the amount of loose fruit and vegetables bought by customers increased by an average of 40 percent.
The new “buy bagless” fruit and vegetables shelves are expected to result in a similar switch from bagged to loose – saving an estimated three tonnes of plastic a week.
Retailers are under pressure from consumers to reduce the amount of packaging they use amid concern for the environment and the amount of plastic being found in the oceans.
When Morrisons customers buy loose fruit and vegetables, they can either take them through the checkout loose or bag them in Morrisons recyclable paper bags.
The loose fruit and vegetable areas will be rolled out in 60 Morrisons stores during the year.
Then they will continue to be introduced as part of the supermarket’s ongoing store refurbishment program nationwide.
Upmarket chain Waitrose removed all plastic bags from its stores earlier in 2019.
A compostable home alternative is used for fruit and vegetable plastic bags.
In 2018, the supermarket announced it’d remove all disposable paper cups from its stores as a pledge to help the environment.
And earlier in 2019 Tesco began a trial to remove a selection of plastic-wrapped fruit and vegetables, eliminating plastic packaging from 45 foods where loose alternatives are available. The items include onions, mushrooms, peppers, apples, bananas and avocados.
This development comes after Tesco announced in 2018 that it’d ban hard-to-recycle plastic packaging by 2019 and make all packaging entirely recyclable by 2025.
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