UK retail giant Tesco (Welwyn Garden City; www.tescoplc.com) has launched the second phase of its plan to cut the amount of packaging it uses to store goods on its shelves. Like its rivals, Tesco has come under increasing pressure to dump plastic packaging, and the supermarket chain, which has more than 3,400 outlets in the UK and nearly that number around the rest of the world, has spelled out the four initiatives that will influence packaging design across all its product categories. It has pledged to remove all non-recyclable and hard to recycle material. Where they cannot be removed altogether, the retailer will reduce such materials to an absolute minimum, look at new ways to reuse them and if that isn’t possible ensure they are all recycled as part of a closed loop.

Dave Lewis, Tesco’s chief executive, said, “From next year, we will assess packaging as part of our ranging decisions, and if it’s excessive or inappropriate, we reserve the right not to list it.” Lewis also repeated the firm’s call for the government to introduce a UK-wide collection and recycling infrastructure to deliver a closed loop for packaging. “Without a national infrastructure, industry efforts to improve the recyclability of materials used in packaging will be a drop in the ocean,” he added.