John Lewis & Partners launch major pilot at its Oxford shop to reduce packaging

John Lewis & Partners has launched a major pilot at its Oxford shop to encourage a ‘reduce, reuse & return’ culture among customers which could provide a blueprint for other shops. 

Potentially saving thousands of tonnes of plastic and packaging from going to landfill, the pilot will test eight ways in which the retailer and its customers can reduce their impact on the planet.

The shop has removed 5p plastic carrier bags to reduce the amount of plastic it produces, a first for a department store, and the retailer will encourage customers to bring a bag or buy a reusable one instead. This alone is estimated to save 5 tonnes of plastic over a year.   

The Oxford shop will also become the first in the UK to trial a reusable ‘Click and Collect’ bag made from 100 per cent recycled materials, with one in four orders to be delivered to the shop in these reusable bags.

This means customers will be handed their orders without any additional packaging and partners will offer to keep and recycle the cardboard and single use plastic bags used to transport other ‘Click and Collect’ orders.

New recyclable wrapping for china and glass products bought in the shop will be trialled in place of bubble wrap.

As well as reducing the amount of packaging it gives out John Lewis Oxford will reward ‘my John Lewis’ customers who bring back empty beauty product packaging and pre-loved clothing with gift vouchers. 

The beauty product recycling scheme named ‘BeautyCycle’ was tested earlier this year and this week is being permanently introduced to 36 John Lewis shops which have a Beauty Department. 

Customers booking home deliveries with a shop Partner will be offered the chance to help reduce carbon emissions and traffic by selecting an ‘Eco-delivery’ slot when a van would be near their home.

“Our customers have told us they want us to help them reduce their impact on the planet and that reducing and recycling packaging is key for them,” said Stephen Cawley, Partner and  Head of Sustainability at John Lewis.

“Our message that we want customers to take away just the product that they love and reduce and reuse the packaging that they don’t will be clearly communicated throughout the shop. 

“We will listen to customer feedback on this blueprint before deciding what we should introduce to other shops.”