Waitrose hits target to remove black plastic from hundreds of products

Waitrose and Partners has hit its target to remove black plastic from hundreds of its products as part of its overall aim to eradicate black plastic from its own-label products.

The retailer has now removed black plastic on its fresh meat, fish, poultry, fruit, and vegetables, amounting to a reduction of over 1300 tonnes of black plastic per year.

The progress means Waitrose and Partners is now on target to achieve its goal to remove black plastic from all own-brand products before 2019.

The majority of black plastic uses carbon black pigments for colouring, which does not enable the pack to be easily sorted by plastics recycling systems.

Tor Harris, Head of CSR, Health and Agriculture for Waitrose and Partners, said: “Eliminating black plastic is a priority for us. While removing it we have also taken the opportunity to reduce the amount of plastic of any colour by removing trays from fruit and veg like apples, broccoli, and pak choi. We are making progress all the time and are determined to maintain our momentum which is why we’re looking at ready meals and other products so we can achieve our aim of removing all black plastic from our own-label products by the end of 2019.”