The Food Warehouse – part of the Iceland Foods Group – has fitted plastic recycling bins in all its stores to help its customers recycle plastic film they are not able to at home.
The supermarket has launched the new bins across more than 140 stores across the country following a successful trial in 13 of its stores that received positive customer feedback.
The new bins, are at the front of each store, have been specifically setup to allow customers to recycle flexible plastic film items including carrier bags, bread bags, produce bags and magazine wraps, which typically cannot be recycled at home.
The bin roll out has come ahead WRAP’s campaign dubbed ‘Repeat the Cycle’, that will encourage the recycling of plastic bags and wrappings such as bags for frozen peas, bread bags, and the wrapping around packets of toilet rolls at front of store locations.
Currently, flexible plastic packaging represents more than a fifth of all UK consumer plastic packaging, but only 6% is currently recycled.
Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland, said: “Tackling unnecessary plastic production and plastic waste continues to remain the priority for Iceland and The Food Warehouse but we are also keen to offer our customers a convenient solution for recycling the flexible plastics they are not able to at home.
“Following a successful trial period in some of our The Food Warehouse stores, we’re pleased to have fitted these bins across the country following positive feedback and high usage from our customers. The additional bins will ensure that even more flexible plastic is recycled reliably and help contribute to a circular economy.”
The bins have been fitted as part of Iceland’s wider commitment to eliminate plastic packaging from its own-label products and drive down plastic waste.
For further information on Iceland’s plastic reduction progress to date, please visit www.sustainability.iceland.co.uk
[1] https://wrap.org.uk/resources/guide/creating-circular-economy-flexible-plastic-packaging
