Tesco has announced plans to collect, recycle and use plastic waste in its fresh fish packaging.
From next week, many of the supermarket’s fresh salmon, haddock, cod and sea bass lines will be sold for the first time in trays that contain at least 30% recycled coastal plastic collected from beaches, coastlines and coastal communities around the Mediterranean.
The plan from the retailer is expected to remove around 500 tonnes of plastic from the environment each year and reduce the amount of “virgin” plastic required in the packaging.
“Where we can, we are reducing the amount of new plastic we use in our business,” said Sarah Bradbury, Tesco quality director. “Reusing coastal plastic in our fish packaging is one way we can do that and at the same time keep it out of the oceans.”
Plastic waste including polypropylene, PET and polyethylene will be collected from coastal areas within 10km from the sea to prevent it entering oceans by volunteer groups involved in beach clean-ups, local authorities, non-profits and the private sector.
The PET share of the waste is then sorted, grinded, washed and recycled and goes back into food-grade packaging materials.
Collection and processing will be undertaken with certification from non-profit Keep Sea Blue, which works with organisations across the entire packaging process, from collection to reuse in new packaging.
Using Oracle Blockchain, Keep Sea Blue monitors and certifies the circularity of plastics ensuring full material traceability.
“Mismanaged plastic waste can only be solved by many partners working together,” said Lefteris Bastakis, founder of Keep Sea Blue. “We are glad that Tesco is making a meaningful and active contribution to this programme towards protecting the Mediterranean Sea from plastic pollution and building a more sustainable future.”
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