Wilko has saved a claimed 1,500 tonnes of plastic by ditching the material from all its own-label wipes a year ago.
The home and garden discounter announced in March 2020 that all its own-label wipes would instead use viscose, a renewable plant fibre.
The switchover was made across 22 products, spanning antibacterial and cleansing wipes to car care, in a claimed high street first.
Wilko plans to share news of the saving, equating to a claimed 47 truck loads of plastic, with shoppers in an in-store marketing campaign.
“We’ve been focused on meeting our environmental ambitions for some time and we’re proud to have been the first high street retailer to offer plastic-free wipes across all our own-brand options,” said Wilko CEO Jerome Saint-Marc.
“We’re a family-owned retailer and understand the importance of making little changes for the better. Our customers tell us plastic reduction is important to them – that’s why we signed up to the UK Plastics Pact and why we’re celebrating our 1,500-tonnes milestone with them.”
Wilko said the switch to plastic-free wipes had been made without charging customers more.
The retailer launched a ‘Plastic Plan’ last year, committing to using at least 30% recycled content on average across all plastic packaging by April 2022. The plan also involves making all packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
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