The Midcounties Co-operative launches soft plastic collection scheme

The Midcounties Co-operative has rolled out a soft plastic collection scheme in over 200 of its food stores, meaning that all of its own-branded packaging is now 100% widely recyclable.

The initiative will help customers recycle problem materials, including bread bags, lids from ready meals, biscuit wrappers and wrappers from pet food.

As most UK councils are “unable or unlikely” to collect soft plastics, the in-store collection points will help customers dispose of these materials easily.

The Midcounties Co-operative has continued to tackle the issue of single-use plastic as part of its “1Change” campaign which aims to raise awareness of the issues caused by plastic pollution. It also encourages its members and customers to make more sustainable choices to help reduce their impact on the environment.

In October last year, the society also announced that it will no longer sell single-use plastic carrier bags in any of its food stores with them being replaced with fully compostable bags, helping to remove an estimated eight million single-use plastic bags from circulation each year.

Mike Pickering, co-operative social responsibility manager at The Midcounties Co-operative, said: “As a Society, we’re committed to making change and encouraging our members and customers to work with us to build a better environment for our future, and recycling is a big part of that.

“We know that many of our customers and members want to do even more than they already are to help the planet, and the new recycling collection points are a great, convenient solution to help them with that.”