UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has moved from plastic to paper on its own-brand toilet and kitchen roll packaging, a move it said will save over 55m pieces of plastic annually.
It described it as “the biggest single plastics reduction” across Sainsbury’s grocery business so far, adding that it is the first UK retailer to announce the switch from plastic to paper packaging across its entire own-brand toilet paper and kitchen towel ranges.
The move will save 485 tonnes of plastic, which Sainsbury’s said is equivalent to over 55m pieces of plastic a year.
The new packaging will launch across 27 products, with customers starting to see the change in store and online last week and will have rolled out to all lines by February 2024. Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation, said: “We sell thousands of our own brand toilet tissue and kitchen roll products every week and by switching from plastic to paper on these household staples, we’re able to make a significant impact in reducing plastic.
“This change alone represents the biggest plastic reduction in our grocery products so far and our customers can expect many more changes to come.
“Collaborating with our suppliers to develop innovative packaging solutions to reduce plastic is a major key priority for Sainsbury’s, helping us to achieve our ambitious target of increasing recycled content and recyclability.”
The packaging switch follows the introduction of double-length toilet rolls in Sainsbury’s last year.
The multipack rolls include double the number of sheets on each roll, reducing plastic packaging by 30%, and saving 84 tonnes of plastic each year.
Sainsbury’s also recently cut the price of selected own brand toilet paper and kitchen towels, including the by Sainsbury’s ultra-absorbent kitchen towels x2 (previously £3.25, now £3) and by Sainsbury’s super soft quilted x16 (previously £7.50, now £6.50).
