single-use plastic

Marks & Spencer (M&S), Morrisons, Ocado and Waitrose have teamed up alongside the supply chain solutions company CHEP for a scheme run by Unpackaged, a company that provides refill stations for several retailers.

Work by the Refill Coalition aims to reimagine how key food staples such as pasta and grains, and household products, are supplied. This marks the first step in developing a worldwide standard for plastic-free food distribution from the supplier to a consumer’s cupboard.

Taking forward the commitment to eliminate single-use plastics, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has announced a ban on the entry of plastic waste into Delhi. All the manufacturers, retailers, general public, and shopkeepers have been asked not to keep any stock of single-use plastic by June 30, 2022. 

As per the pollution watchdog, non-woven bags less than 60 gram per sqm in thickness, sachets made of plastic, plastic bags less than 75 microns in thickness, plastic cutlery, plastic stirrers, sticks, and banners among other similar products have been banned in Delhi.

The concentrate in each refill packet reconstitutes, with water, to make 7.5 fluid ounces of foaming hand wash. The refills come in three formulations: Aloe-Scented, Lavender-Scented, and Sea Breeze-Scented. Each refill carton contains two packets.

According to Dial, each packet uses 95% less plastic than a single-use, 7.5-oz Dial Foaming Hand Wash bottle. In addition, the packets are recyclable through TerraCycle.

The refills also help reduce transportation-related carbon emissions by 85%, based on truck weight and product uses per truck.

Coca-Cola is a top target for consumer, investor and environmental groups concerned about petroleum-based plastic single-use bottles clogging oceans, among other problems.

The company was the world's worst plastic polluter for the fourth year in a row in 2021, according to the global coalition Break Free From Plastic's annual report released in October.

"We hope that other companies will follow Coke's leadership and set reusable packaging targets," said the group's global corporate campaign coordinator Emma Priestland.

Footprint, a global materials science technology company focused on creating a healthy planet, today announced the launch of a customized and tested portfolio of solutions for supermarkets designed to replace single-use plastics and foam, building on plant-based fiber solutions the company currently provides to individual food producers. 

The Canadian branch of multinational retailer Walmart has pledged to remove single-use plastic shopping bags across its operations.

The retailer will discontinue the bags for both its in-store and online grocery pickup and delivery orders.

This move is expected to keep 750 million plastic bags out of circulation a year.

It comes after a successful pilot project Walmart Canada launched in August across ten stores, in which almost six million plastic bags were diverted.

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has replaced single-use plastic picnicware with an extended range of more sustainable items in all its stores across the country.

The move is part of the retailer’s plan to remove around 2.1 million kilograms of plastic a year.

The extended sustainable picnicware range includes wooden cutlery certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), as well as paper cups and plates.

Woolworths is also providing bowls and plates made from sugarcane pulp.

Starting on 1 January 2023, coffee cups in the office must be washable, or at least 75 percent of the disposable ones must be collected for recycling. Like with plates and cups in the catering industry, coffee cups in the office can be washed and reused or replaced with reusable alternatives, the State Secretary said to parliament.

Ranpak has clients throughout continental Europe, with its European headquarters in the Netherlands.

Creapaper uses a patented process to produce graspap, a raw material required for producing grasspaper, which helps reduce CO2 emissions and water consumption across the global paper and packaging industry.

It provides packaging for hygienic papers, food & carrying bags and single-use plastic replacements with retail clients in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Italy.

Pentel Marketing Manager Wendy Vickery explains, “Moving away from conventional blister cards, with their single-use plastic, is the right thing to do for the environment, but it’s not without its challenges. The obvious benefit of the plastic bubble is that it affords full product visibility to the consumer, which is a real advantage in those precious few seconds at the point of sale.”