Asda opens new sustainability store in Leeds

Asda has opened its new sustainability trial store and unveiled a new plastics reduction strategy with a promise that customers will not pay more for greener options.

The supermarket has partnered with some of the UK’s most popular household brands including PG Tips, Vimto, Kellogg’s, Radox and Persil to create the store located in Middleton, Leeds.

The store is designed to help shoppers reduce, reuse and recycle with ease and Asda estimates the numerous initiatives being trialled in Middleton will save one million pieces of plastic per year.

Asda will use the Middleton store to test and learn which elements of its new offer appeal most to customers and can be developed at scale to be potentially rolled out to more locations in 2021.

Asda has also launched ‘Greener at Asda Price’ a national price promise that loose and unwrapped products will not cost more than wrapped equivalents.

The new store includes 15 huge refill stations offering customers a selection of more than 30 household staples sold in refillable format. Products include a selection of different Kellogg’scereals, PG Tips tea bags, Quaker Oats, Lavazza and Taylors of Harrogate coffee beans, Vimto cordial and Asda’s own brand rice and pasta.

The refill zone includes popular brands of shampoo, conditioner, Persil laundry detergent, hand wash and shower gel from Unilever brands such as Simple and Radox sold in refillable format – a retail first. This is along with 53 fresh produce lines in total sold in loose and unwrapped format including 29 new lines such as cauliflowers, mushrooms, apples, cabbages and baby plum tomatoes. In addition, all Asda plants and flowers are sold either unwrapped or with a paper wrapping.

The store also features recycling facilities for items that are difficult to recycle in kerbside collections such as crisp and biscuit packets, plastic toys, cosmetic containers and toothpaste tubes. In addition Asda’s first reverse vending machine for cans, plastic and glass drinks bottles and a hanger recycling facility that will be rolled out across all stores.

The store will also showcase sustainable fashion lines through George including clothing made from recycled polyester and coat hanger-less denim and a new community zone for pop ups and partnerships with charities.

Roger Burnley, Asda’s CEO and President said:“Today marks an important milestone in our journey as we tackle plastic pollution and help our customers to reduce, re-use and recycle. We have always known that we couldn’t go on this journey alone, so it is fantastic to work in tandem with more than twenty of our partners and suppliers, who have answered the call to test innovative sustainable solutions with us.

“This is an issue that matters greatly to our customers – our own insight tells us that more than 80% believe that supermarkets have a responsibility to reduce the amount of single use plastics in stores. We want to give them the opportunity to live more sustainably by offering them great product choices and value, underpinned by a promise that they won’t pay more for greener options at Asda.

“During the next few months we will listen to customers and colleagues’ feedback on Middleton so we can understand how we can continue to reduce our environmental impacts, whilst continuing to deliver quality service at a great price.”