Tesco trials own-brand spirits in plastic

The UK supermarket Tesco is to trial plastic bottles for own-brand spirits.
By moving its own-brand brandy into plastic it claims to have achieved an 86% reduction (200,000kg) in packaging weight. In addition, the company says it has saved on outer packaging “because plastic is more durable than glass and needs less protection”.

Tesco has also launched the lightest ever wine bottle following the successful completion of a collaborative project with WRAP and suppliers. The new 300g bottles are 30% lighter than Tesco’s previous lightest own-label bottles and save 560 tonnes of glass annually. To further help reduce the carbon footprint of wine, New World wine is shipped in bulk and bottled in the UK.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, executive director at Tesco says: "Tesco is always breaking new ground with innovative approaches to packaging. However more significantly we're working with our suppliers so that we reach our target of a 30 per cent reduction in the carbon impact of the products in our supply chain by 2020."

1 March 2010 - Felicity Murray