Iceland’s packaging experts have travelled far and wide in the search for environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food packaging. In March the team, accompanied by MD Richard Walker, visited the Ekoplaza supermarket in Amsterdam, together with plastics campaigner Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet.
Ekoplaza is the first store of its kind to have a complete aisle without plastic packaging. In its place over 700 lines are displayed in glass, metal or cardboard containers, as well as materials that can be composted. While some of the packaging may look like plastic, it’s actually a biofilm made from trees and plants that will break down within 12 weeks in a home composter.
Ekoplaza intends to install a plastic-free aisle in all 74 of its stores across the Netherlands by the end of 2018. The next store to roll out the eco-friendly aisle is in The Hague, which is expected to debut in June.
