Tesco will be the first retail store to cut sales of baby wipes containing plastic thanks to a decision that will become effective in March. Some Huggies and Pampers products are among those that will no longer be sold in Tesco retail stores across the U.K. starting March as part of a pledge to cut plastic consumption.
The decision to stop selling plastic wipes altogether follows the retailer’s decision to make its own-brand wipes plastic-free two years ago. Tesco’s store brand wipes contain plant-based viscose in place a petroleum-based plastic feedstock.
As the UK’s largest supplier of wet wipes, Tesco is currently responsible for selling 75 million packs a year, or more than 200,000 a day.
Tesco will continue to stock its own brand of plastic-free wipes and those manufactured by eco-friendly brands such as Waterwipes and Rascal + Friends. Tesco says it will also seek to make lavatory wipes plastic-free starting next month and its own brand of pet wipes will be plastic-free by the end of 2022.
“We have worked hard to remove plastic from our wipes as we know how long they take to break down,” says Tesco group quality directory Sarah Bradbury. “There is no need for wet wipes to contain plastic so from now on we will no longer stock them if they do.”
In addition to being plastic-free, Tesco’s moist toilet tissue wipes are certified and labelled as ‘fine to flush’. Non-flushable wipes stocked by the supermarket are clearly labelled as ‘do not flush’.
These efforts are part of Tesco’s 4Rs packaging strategy to tackle the impact of plastic waste. This means Tesco removes plastic where it can, reduces where it can’t, looks at ways to reuse more and recycles what’s left. Since the strategy started in August 2019, Tesco has reduced its packaging by 6000 tons, including the removal of 1.5 billion pieces of plastic. It has also launched a reusable packaging trial with Loop and launched soft plastic collection points in over 900 stores.
Post time: Feb-28-2022