M&S has stepped up its mission to remove plastic from its operations with the launch of a renewable paper fibre tray that can be cooked in both microwaves and ovens.

The move is being trialled for one of its chicken tikka masala meals. This will remove 150,000 units of plastic and could be rolled out across the retailer’s entire Meal for Tonight range.

The renewable tray meal is available in its M&S Food stores and online via Ocodo. During the trial the retailer is gathering customer feedback.

It explains that due to the differences of cooking methods between ovens and microwaves it has been difficult to find an alternative to plastic but added “the new M&S tray has been designed and tested to make sure it is suitable for both options”.

The move is part of an overall strategy to tackle the use of plastic in its operations. Last year it met its target to remove 75m units. Through its Plan A roadmap, it aims to remove 1bn by the end of the financial year 2027/28 and be net zero by 2040.

“Our Plan A roadmap is focused on how we can become a Net Zero business across all our operations and entire supply chain by 2040 and we’re constantly looking for new ways to do things to try and take big steps along that journey,” said M&S Food technical director Andrew Clappen.

“We know customers care about reducing the amount of plastic packaging and we’re determined to help them by finding new materials and processes to make sure our packaging is as easy to recycle as possible.”

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