Retailer estimates change could prevent nearly four million plastic water bottles from entering oceans every year
Supermarket Lidl has announced it has partnered with recycling initiative Prevented Ocean Plastic and will use its recycled plastic bottles for its mineral water in an initiative which it expects to save as much as 100 tonnes of plastic from entering oceans every year.
The supermarket said it will use the recycled bottles for its one litre San Celestino Italian Sparkling Mineral Water range, with the bottles set to appear in Lidl's stores from July.
The company estimated the change could save the equivalent of nearly four million plastic water bottles from the ocean each year.
The new bottles will contain at least 30 per cent Prevented Ocean Plastic that would have likely ended up in the ocean.
The packaging is supplied and developed in conjunction with Bantam Materials and is made from discarded water bottles found in Southeast Asia within 30 miles of a coastline or major waterway that feeds into the ocean. The waste is then sorted and processed before being turned into packaging, Lidl explained.
Shyam Unarket, head of responsible sourcing and ethical trade at Lidl, hailed the retailer's efforts to tackle ocean plastic pollution that remains a major threat to marine habitats.
"As pioneers of integrating ocean bound plastic into our packaging in 2020, we have been consistently building and improving on our efforts since, and are proud to now extend Prevented Ocean Plastic into water bottles," he added. "Through this latest product development, we hope to inspire wider efforts across the industry."
The partnership marks the supermarket's second collaboration with Prevented Ocean Plastic, which it first started working with in 2020 when it became the first supermarket in the UK to introduce food packaging using Prevented Ocean Plastic.
Lidl now uses the recycled plastic across a range of products including its own-brand fresh-fish, breaded poultry, sausage and fresh fruit products. It estimated that through this initiative it has saved the equivalent of more than 15 million plastic water bottles from entering the ocean.
In related news, drinks giant Robinsons last week announced the launch of a new plant-based packaging concept called the Robinsons Ecopack for its concentrated squash, which it is launching as a trial in selected Tesco stores across the country.
The Britvic brand said its new packaging will be able to contain 60 servings of squash per 500ml carton and is made from 89 per cent plant-based material.
The company said the approach results in 85 per cent less plastic per serving, compared with a one litre bottle of Robinsons Double Concentrate. With a higher squash concentration compared to its single or double concentrate drinks, the carton is the equivalent of three single concentrate bottles and as such results in significantly less packaging per serving.
"As a brand, Robinsons is continuously innovating and is committed to improving the environmental impact we have," said Fiona Graham, innovation lead for Robinsons.
"Squash is already a sustainable product due to its concentrated format. Making Robinsons available in this new format allows consumers to feel confident in the knowledge that the pack they've chosen has more serves, but used less packaging per serve, and can be recycled once finished."
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