5 June
Waitrose has unveiled its vision of environmentally conscious shopping, offering customers the chance to buy food and drink that is completely free of packaging as part of a ground-breaking trial for a large retailer.
In a new drive to try to eliminate unnecessary plastic and packaging, shoppers will be able to fill their own containers with a range of products from a series of dispensers, using the first dedicated refill station installed by a major UK supermarket.
In a trial starting this week at a Waitrose supermarket in Oxford, customers are being given refillable options for products including wine and beer, rice and cleaning materials, with prices typically 15% cheaper than the packaged alternatives.
A standalone pick and mix range of frozen fruit and a borrow-a-box scheme to help carry shopping home are other new retail formats being tested by Waitrose at the Botley Road shop.
Waitrose has transformed the store by removing hundreds of products from their packaging, although shoppers will still be able to buy the packaged versions if they wish.
Plastic waste has become a major environmental issue, with television programmes such as Blue Planet exposing its detrimental effects on the oceans, and media coverage highlighting the dangers of a global plastic binge.
Waitrose is among the UK’s supermarkets which have signed up to the UK Plastics Pact – an industry-wide initiative to transform packaging and reduce avoidable plastic waste. However, retailers have been criticised for not doing more to tackle the issue at an earlier stage.
“This test has potential to shape how people might shop with us in the future so it will be fascinating to see which concepts our customers have an appetite for,” said Waitrose’s Tor Harris.
The Guardian
