Our approach to soft plastics
We want to do everything we can to keep plastic out of landfill and play a part in making plastic pollution a thing of the past. It's a challenge but we want to play our part.
Our soft plastics drop off
Our stores have drop-off points for soft plastics, which are not widely recyclable at home. By collecting these soft plastics, we ensure they are disposed of responsibly and don't end up in landfill or the environment.
The materials dropped off are sorted to remove unsuitable items, and our drop-off points show what can and cannot be accepted. We then process the collected soft plastics. Some are recycled into new items where we can, like bags for life, garden furniture, and planters. However, soft plastics recycling is still developing, and we can't recycle everything due to limited UK recycling infrastructure and the variety of items deposited. Some materials are incinerated to generate energy, but nothing is sent directly to landfill.
The 4R's
At Tesco, we focus on the 4R's approach to plastic and packaging: Remove plastic where possible, Reduce plastic where removal isn't possible, Reuse more, and Recycle everything used where possible. Using plastic must have a purpose, usually to ensure the safety, quality, and freshness of our products and to prevent food waste. However, plastic pollution remains a significant problem when not effectively collected, recycled or processed.
Looking forward
Looking ahead, Tesco aims to drive up the use of recycled content, develop soft plastic recycling technology, support government efforts to improve recycling infrastructure, participate in reusable packaging innovation, and implement a deposit return scheme for recycling plastic bottles. We publish our plastics and packaging footprint annually to maintain transparency. By testing and learning, with ambition and leadership, we can make a difference. At Tesco, we have no time for waste.
