Big brands and everyday essentials in reusable packaging: Loop launches in Tesco stores

13 September 2021

Tesco has launched a ground-breaking way for its customers to shop that allows them to buy a wide range of food, drink, household and beauty products in reusable and durable packaging.

In partnership with global reusable packaging platform, Loop, customers in ten large Tesco stores in the east of England will be able to buy products in reusable packaging that can be returned to store when finished so it can be cleaned, refilled and used again.

The new reusable range of 88 products will include some of the UK’s biggest and most popular brands, including Persil, Fever-Tree, Carex, Tetley Tea and BrewDog. Tesco has included 35 own brand essentials in the range, such as pasta, rice, oil and sugar, with even more products set to be added to the range throughout the year.

Customers wishing to opt for reusable packaging simply visit the Loop fixture in the store and add the products they want into their trolley as a part of their shop. The Loop range comes ready prefilled in the perfect container for that product, so there’s no need for customers to bring their own containers or refill themselves.

Prices for the contents of each item are comparable to the original. A fully refundable deposit starting at £0.20 is paid on each reusable product at checkout and this is refunded via an app when the customer returns the packaging to a collection point in the store.

The impact of switching just three items of the weekly shop could be enormous: if customers in the 10 stores switched their recyclable tomato ketchup, cola and washing up liquid bottles to the reusable Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Coca-Cola and Ecover alternatives, the packaging would be used and reused more than two and a half million times a year.

To help customers include Loop products in their shop, Loop Ambassadors will be on hand to explain what Loop is and how it works.

Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO, said:

“We are determined to tackle plastic waste and one of the ways we can help is by improving reuse options available to customers. Bringing Loop to our stores is a significant milestone in this journey. With 88 everyday products available, we’re giving customers a wide range of options and we’ll learn as much as we can from this to inform our future packaging plans.”

Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of Loop and TerraCycle, said:

"The consumer reaction to Loop in these first Tesco stores will prove pivotal in refining the Loop offering and ultimately we hope to scale reuse across more stores and the number of product lines available. Tesco is the perfect partner to bring Loop to retail in the UK due to its commitment to sustainability, in combating plastics waste and in its operational scale as the UK’s biggest grocery retailer.”

Tesco is tackling the impact of plastic waste through its 4Rs strategy - to remove plastic where we can, reduce it where we can't, reuse more and recycle what's left.

Since the inception of the strategy in 2019, Tesco has removed a billion pieces of plastic from its UK business, and aims to remove a further half a billion this year. Tesco has additionally reduced the materials used each year in its packaging by more than 2000 tonnes and recently launched new soft plastic recycling facilities across all large stores.

The launch of Loop in Tesco stores follows a year-long online pilot, launched in July 2020, that allowed customers to order and return products in reusable packaging to and from their doorstep.

The full list of brands available in store at launch are: Alberto Balsam, Bisto, BrewDog, Bulldog Skincare, Carex, Coca-Cola, Dr Will’s, Ecover, Fever-Tree, Finish, Good4U, Hardys, Mackays, Heinz, Meridian, Mud House, Naked Noodle, Original Source, Persil, Quaker Oats, Radox, Simple, Sipsmith and Tetley.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

View our Loop image library here

Loop products and prices

Comments from our supplier partners

The ten Tesco stores launching reusable products with Loop in the week commencing September 13:

1. Milton Keynes Kingston
2. Northampton South
3. Cambridge Newmarket Road
4. Wellingborough
5. Milton Keynes Wolverton
6. Evesham
7. Leicester Hamilton
8. Stratford Upon Avon
9. Ashby De La Zouch
10. Loughborough Rushes

How Loop works in store:

1. The customer visits the Loop fixture of the store and chooses which prefilled products in reusable Loop containers they want to buy. Where there is an identical product in plastic packaging, prices for the contents of each item are comparable to usual products.
2. At the end of their shop, the Loop items are put through the till with other shopping and a small deposit is paid for each piece of reusable packaging
3. Once home the products are consumed
4. The customer downloads the ‘Loop deposit’ app and registers their details
5. When they do their next shop, the customer brings back the empty containers
6. At the store, the customer collects a QR sticker from the Loop return point and sticks it on to the container. Then scans it using the Loop app on their phone
7. The empty containers are then placed in the Loop return point
8. Loop will collect the container and refund the deposit back to the customer via the app in 3-6 days
9. Shoppers will also have the option of buying a Loop bag (again with a refundable deposit) with a QR code on it to make returning large numbers of containers easier and quicker.

The returned packaging is cleaned by Ecolab Inc, a global leader in cleaning and hygiene solutions and services. DHL will support Loop’s warehousing, fulfilment, returned deposit scanning and process all cleaned containers for distribution back to consumer product manufacturers.

About Loop

Loop is an initiative from TerraCycle, www.terracycle.com, an innovative waste management company whose mission is to Eliminate the Idea of Waste®. Operating nationally across 21 countries, TerraCycle partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers, cities, and facilities to recycle hard to recycle waste. Loop is a global reuse platform designed to address the issue of waste at its source by providing consumers a circular shopping platform while encouraging manufacturers to own and take responsibility for their packaging on the long term. Loop is live in the UK, France, US, Canada, and Japan and later this year will be live in Australia making it a truly global movement.

To learn more about Loop, visit www.exploreloop.com.

About Tesco
Tesco’s 4Rs strategy – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - means it will remove non-recyclable and excess packaging from its business. Where packaging can’t be removed, for example where packaging Is required to prevent food waste, Tesco will work with its suppliers to reduce it to an absolute minimum. The retailer is exploring new opportunities to reuse packaging and ensure anything left is recycled as part of a closed loop system. Read more here: https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/product/packaging/

Contact:

	Email Address	Telephone Number
Tesco Press Office	press.office@tesco.com	0330 6780 639
Stephen Clarke - Terracycle/Loop	stephen.clarke@terracycle.com	020 3515 2010