Reducing plastic

At Waitrose, we are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and a big part of this is cutting down on the amount of plastic waste we create. We have introduced a wide variety of reusable bags at our checkouts as well as in our fresh produce aisles. We actively encourage customers to make use of these reusable bags instead of plastic bags.

In 2019, we conducted a successful trial charge for plastic bags, in which we saw a drop in the amount of plastic bags leaving our stores. A plan is in place to roll out this charge across all our stores by 2023.

We have also introduced a plastic bag exchange in stores, where customers can deposit and collect plastic bags, helping to make these reusable and stopping them from going to landfill.