British retailer Tesco has now removed more than one and a half billion pieces of plastic from its UK business since it launched its 4Rs – Remove, Reduce, Re-use, Recycle – packaging strategy.

In the last 12 months, 500 million more pieces of unnecessary plastic have been identified and removed. The most recent annual savings include:

• More than 200 million bags removed from Tesco.com deliveries
• 42 million plastic forks from prepared salads and rice bowls, replaced by the option of wooden alternatives
• 14 million plastic chicken trays from whole chickens
• 48 million private brand plastic straws replaced with paper alternatives

Tesco Quality Director, Sarah Bradbury, said: “We all have a responsibility to take care of our planet and removing unnecessary plastic is an important way that Tesco can reduce its environmental impact. While we are proud of this achievement, we know we have more to do and our work to tackle the impact of plastic waste will continue in 2022 and beyond.”

Tesco’s 4Rs packaging strategy aims to remove plastic where it can, reduce where it can’t, reuse more and recycle what’s left.

Since the 4Rs strategy was launched, Tesco has removed:

• Plastic wrapped tinned multipacks, totaling more than 75 million pieces a year
• All 50 million pieces of plastic wrapping from cans of branded beers and ciders
• Over 100 million additional lids from products including wipes, creams, yoghurts and desserts
• More than 50 million pieces of plastic from greeting cards
• Millions of plastic trays from products such as peaches, plums and tomatoes

The 4Rs strategy has seen a business-wide program of change that assesses every piece of packaging and removes all unnecessary and non-recyclable material.

Tesco initiated action by giving its suppliers a list of preferred materials that are easier to recycle and stated that it reserves the right to no longer stock products in excessive packaging or hard to recycle materials. The retailer then supported its suppliers to develop more sustainable packaging solutions.

The business is determined to tackle plastic waste and one of the ways it is also looking to help is by improving reuse options available to customers.

In September last year, in partnership with Loop, Tesco began trialling a range of food, drink, household and beauty products in reusable packaging. Customers in ten large Tesco stores can now buy products in packaging that can be returned to store when finished so it can be cleaned, refilled and used again.