Tesco to remove plastic carrier bags from online business

As part of its work to use less plastic, Tesco has announced it will stop using carrier bags to deliver groceries from its online business.

The move predicts nearly 2,000 tonnes of plastic will come out of production annually, as 250 million fewer carrier bags will be delivered to customers’ homes each year.

Delivery drivers will be ready to offer customers a helping hand with the changes by taking groceries out of the reusable trays and into customers’ kitchens. 

The decision to roll out carrier bag-free deliveries follows 28 weeks of successful trials involving 33 stores.

Tesco says it will have removed the hardest to recycle materials from its own brand packaging by the end of the year.

As a result, 570 more products now have widely recyclable packaging, and around 3,000 tonnes of ‘bad’, hard-to-recycle, plastics have been removed in the process.

Sarah Bradbury, Tesco Quality Director, said: 

“We’re looking for ways to reduce the amount of plastic we use. We know it’s an important issue for customers, colleagues and our business and we know we have to do more.

Right now, we’re reviewing all our packaging, including plastic, looking to remove where possible. Where it’s not right to remove we will reduce, help customers reuse and ensure all packaging can be recycled. Our scale means a simple, straightforward change can have such a big impact.”