Tesco ditches multipack plastics in latest sustainability move

Tesco has at last eradicated a personal challenge I often encounter on a baked beans run: “Do I spend the extra quid on four separate cans, or get the plastic-coated multipack?”

In partnership with Heinz, Tesco is cutting all plastic-wrapped multipack cans and replacing them with dedicated multi-buy deals on individual cans - a move that stands to rid 350mn tonnes of plastic from its operations each year. 

Tesco’s press release highlights that 183,000 tinned multipacks are sold in its stores each day, and the firm has taken a move that will cut waste without negatively impacting its customers’ buying habits.

“We are removing all unnecessary and non-recyclable plastic from Tesco. As part of this work, removing plastic wrapped multipacks from every Tesco store in the UK will cut 350 tonnes of plastic from the environment every year and customers will still benefit from the same great value ‘multipack’ price,” said Dave Lewis, CEO at Tesco, in the press release. “This is part of our plan to remove 1bn pieces of plastic in 2020.”

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Georgiana de Noronha, President of Kraft Heinz Northern Europe, added: “We’re excited to be partnering with Tesco on this. While we know we have more to do, this initiative is good news for the environment, and for the millions of people who enjoy Heinz varieties every day, as they’ll still be able to benefit from the same great value for money.”

Last year, Tesco committed to removing all hard-to-recycle plastics from its operations and positioned itself to remove products from its shelves if suppliers do not alter their packaging strategy to fit this ambition.

“WWF supports Tesco’s steps in the fight against plastic pollution,” said Paula Chin, WWF’s Sustainable Materials Specialist, in Tesco’s statement. “We need to remove unnecessary single-use plastic wherever possible, to stop the contamination of the natural world. If we want to protect nature we need more businesses to follow Tesco’s lead, before we run out of time to fight for our world.”