Shoppers at Morrisons will be encouraged to bring their own containers to take home fresh meat and fish as part of the supermarket’s new plan to tackle plastic pollution.
By 2019, the retailer will also phase out the hard to recycle black plastic trays currently used for meat and fish.
There will also be a trial to assess how plastic packaging of fruit and veg can be reduced without increasing food waste.
Earlier this month, Morrisons revealed its food waste figures for the first time. Its latest corporate responsibility report states:
“Working with third party data analysts, Valpak Limited, we have developed a methodology to accurately record food wasted in our stores by weight. 11,028.8 tonnes of food was recorded as damaged or out of date stock, which was collected by waste contractors at the back of stores for recycling and reprocessing where possible.”
Morrisons joins Tesco in publishing this level of data on its food waste.
In a report published in May last year, MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee accused many supermarkets of hiding behind industry-level figures. The committee urged the government to force large food retailers to publish their food waste data.
In its response, DEFRA said it had no plans to introduce such a requirement.