Co-op has announced that it will end use of single-use plastic, saving around 60 million plastic carrier bags and replacing them with an environmentally-friendly alternative as part of a new ethical strategy which will tackle plastic pollution as well as food waste, healthy eating, saving energy and trading fairly.

And as part of the soon to be released the Future of Food report, the organisation has committed to using lightweight compostable carrier bags, which can be used to carry shopping home and then be re-used as food waste caddy liners. These will be rolled out to almost 1,400 Co-op food stores, initially in towns, cities and villages where the bags are accepted in food waste collections.

The Co-op’s pledge on plastic will see all its own-brand packaging become easy to recycle by 2023, and has promised to use a minimum of 50 per cent recycled plastic in bottles, pots, trays and punnets by 2021. All own-brand black and dark plastic packaging, including black ready meal trays, will be eliminated by 2020.

Jo Whitfield, retail chief executive of Co-op, said: “Our ban on single-use plastic is central to our new ethical blueprint. The Co-op was founded on righting wrongs, and we first campaigned to stop food fraud. Now we face huge global challenges and have created a recipe for sustainability to source responsibly, treat people with fairness and produce products which have minimal impact on the planet.”

Additionally, the Co-op already sources all of its energy for its stores from renewable sources and will go on to tackle greenhouse emissions through its logistics operations. Co-op will also reduce energy, water and waste in its supply chain and campaign for the rights of workers in its supply chain, and raise funds to bring clean water to communities in developing countries.

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