Co-op is set to remove all coloured milk bottle tops from its shelves in a bid to cut plastic and increase recyclability.
Shoppers will instead see clear caps on milk bottles, featured on Co-op’s skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole milks across its entire estate. It has so far trialled the initiative on semi-skimmed milk in more than 400 Co-op stores.
The incentive is that clear bottle tops reduce colour contamination in the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) stream, allowing materials to be recycled more easily into food-grade packaging.
Green caps are set to be eradicated across all stores first by the end of December, followed by red caps for skimmed milk, and blue caps for whole milk in early 2023. Switching all green caps first is expected to make the biggest difference, according to the convenience retailer, with semi-skimmed accounting for more than three-fifths of milk sales.
It added that once they had all been switched, it could remove more than 150 tonnes of coloured plastic from HDPE streams per annum.
“There are changes in store for how shoppers see milk bottle tops, with the new caps able to be more easily recycled and retained in the food sector, unlike their coloured counterparts,” said Co-op milk buyer Adam Williams.
”There is limited availability of food-grade recycled plastic, and that is a challenge. It is important that packaging is viewed as a valuable resource. We continue to work to explore new ways to make it easier to recycle and reuse these materials. It is a small change to an everyday issue that will collectively add up to make a big difference – a ‘clear’ solution that can reduce the dependency on virgin plastic in the supply chain.”
Wrap sector specialist Adam Herriott said: “Wrap fully supports the complete removal of pigments from HDPE milk bottle caps by Co-op, a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact.
“This development has helped the HDPE milk bottle increase its reputation as a shining light of the circular economy and will enable the caps to be recycled with the bottle and go back into food-grade applications, and therefore be able to be recycled multiple times into high-grade, high-value materials and products.
“It is, however, still vitally important that citizens follow the Recycle Now and OPRL advise of ensuring that they recycle their bottle with the ‘cap on’ to make sure they are captured and recycled effectively.
“We must all continue, as in industry, to go further and ensure we bring in more changes that benefit shoppers and the environment”.
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