Marketplace

Thursday, 15 November 2018 10:29

London supermarket's plastic free zones showcase 1,700 products

Attractive looking plastic free zones have been introduced by London supermarket Thornton's Budgens store in Camden's Belsize Park. In 10 weeks the store has managed to assemble more than 1,700 plastic-free products, featuring everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to wild game meat.

The zones showcase materials set to transform how we package wet goods like meat and fish and are stocked with products including fresh produce from meat and fish to bread, cheese, vegetables and fruit, as well as a range of packaged food and drink products.

Thornton B Plastic Free Zones 2The zones showcase plastic-free materials including beechwood nets, pulp, paper, metal, glass, cellulose and cartonboard.

Signage and shelf talkers tell shoppers about the packaging to help them make plastic-free choices.

The zones feature plastic-free branding created by London design studio Made Thought.

Non-profit social group A Plastic Planet worked in partnership with Thornton’s Budgens to create the Plastic Free Zones. A Plastic Planet has called for an urgent transformation of the UK's approach to waste management, urging the Government to use the new plastics tax to fund a national infrastructure that mandates both recycling and composting.

Sian Sutherland, A Plastic Planet Co-Founder, said: "Plastic is totally nuts. Thornton's Budgens are disrupting the market and showing that wrapping something as fleeting as food in something as long-lasting as plastic is the definition of madness.

Thorntons Budgens Plastic Free Zone meat"In just 10 weeks the store has removed plastic packaging from more than 1,500 products, finally giving their customers the choice they want. While big retailers claim it will take 10 years to create real plastic-free change, Thornton's Budgens has shown that we can start to wean ourselves off plastic in 10 weeks."

Andrew Thornton, Thornton's Budgens Founder, said: "As the community supermarket that really cares we believe in taking a strong stance on major issues that affect our wellbeing and our planet.

"The issue of plastic is one that can no longer be ignored so we've chosen to be the first mainstream supermarket in the UK to introduce Plastic Free Zones. This means our customers will be able to do a comprehensive shop without the need to use any plastic packaging.

"Plastic Free Squirrels are one of 1,500 plastic-free products that our customers can now buy. Our aim is to show the big supermarkets that it is not as difficult to go plastic-free as they think. If we with our limited resources in 10 weeks can introduce more than a thousand plastic-free products just imagine what the major chains could achieve."