Morrisons launches salad refill box rental scheme to reduce plastic

Morrisons is introducing refill boxes for customers at its salad bars in a trial to reduce the use of plastic packaging.

It said the ‘Refill a Box’ scheme, being trialled at four stores, was the first of its kind by a UK supermarket.

Each ‘rentable’ box is made from fully recyclable polypropylene, with boxes being designed to be used 400 times.

To use the new boxes, customers have to download an app called CauliBox. They then use a QR code to collect a box, and pay at the till as normal.

The boxes can be returned to a drop-off point at the salad bar when customers next visit, at which point they must scan a QR code again. The boxes will then be washed and and returned to the pick-up point for another use.

Morrisons will charge a £5 deposit while customers use the box, which is refunded when it is returned within seven days.

The move to refillable boxes is the latest initiative from Morrisons to remove single-use plastic packaging from its stores and follows other commitments. Morrisons introduced a refillable container scheme at its butcher and fishmonger counters in 2018 and was the first supermarket to introduce paper carrier bags at checkouts in 2019.

“Thousands of customers visit our salad bars every week – and this is increasing as people go back out to work,” said Morrisons environmental packaging manager Lorraine Wheeler.

“Until now we’ve stocked recyclable single-use plastic containers, but we think customers will be ready to swap to this reusable box – as it’s so simple to use. We hope to roll it out to more stores this year.”