Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

More Southern Co-op stores offering soft plastic recycling

More Southern Co-op stores offering soft plastic recycling

Soft plastics, such as cling film, biscuit wrappers and carrier bags, can now be recycled in even more co-operative convenience store locations.

Following the success of its trials and in response to customer demand, Southern Co-op now has soft plastics recycling bins in 167 stores across the south of England.


The independent, regional co-operative hopes its expansion of soft plastics recycling bins will enable more customers to safely recycle materials that can't be recycled at home.

"We started to trial these towards the end of last year and they have been really well received by both customers and colleagues," said Simon Eastwood, Chief Operating Officer for Retail.

"We would ask recyclers to double check if their plastics can be recycled before putting it in the bin. One way to do this is the scrunch test. It also needs to have had a quick clean but it doesn't need to have been bought in store to be recycled with us."

All Co-op branded food packaging is now easy to recycle through a combination of kerbside collections and soft plastic recycling in-store.

Once collected, the recyclable material is sent to a company called Jayplas which will turn it into post-consumer plastic granules. These are then made into secondary products such as bin liners, buckets, and construction industry materials.

Examples of acceptable items for recycling project include: Bread bags, produce bags, ordinary carrier bags, wrappers around kitchen towel and toilet roll, bags that nappies come in, bags from cotton wool, cereal box liners, bags from frozen foods, bags from ice cubes, lids on yogurts, cream and desserts, lids from packs of meat and ready meals, lidding film from cheese packs, wrapping around chicken, fruit and veg flow wrap, chocolate wrappers, wrappers from croissants, pancakes and crumpet etc, biscuit wrappers, wrappers from cakes and Yorkshire puddings, flower wrappers, bags from dried fruit, sugar, pulses, rice and pasta, protective wrappers from gift wrap, bags from gift tags, pastry packaging, bags from household textiles and similar such as all-purpose cloths, dusters, dishcloths, rubber gloves and scourers, wrappers from pet food, wrappers from pies, pasties and sausage rolls, bagged sweets, pizza wrappers, bags from porridge and muesli pouches, and packaging from baby wipes and similar.

Gemma Lacey, Director of Sustainability and Communications at Southern Co-op, said: "We all need to do our bit to ensure our future is waste free. We are really pleased with how the trials of soft plastic recycling has gone so far and are now keen to enable more people to make use of it.

"We know the appetite for change is there within our communities and together we can all play our part in making a positive difference to our environment and our communities."

All store waste is already diverted from landfill with dry mixed items separated for recycling and food broken down to produce biogas and bio-fertiliser through anaerobic digestion.

This is one area of work which forms part of Southern Co-op's climate action activity. It also has ambitious science based targets to cut direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from its business by 2030.

More for you

Britvic growth in annual revenue and profits

Strong numbers for Britvic

Britvic, the soft drinks manufacturer set to be acquired by Carlsberg, has posted robust annual results after investment in marketing and product innovation helped it maintain demand for its brands.

Over the year to Sept 30, the company’s pre-tax profits climbed 10.5 per cent to £173.2 million despite a £21.3m hit related to the proposed Carlsberg deal. Britvic stated that its growth was driven by both volume and price-mix, with strong demand for brands such as Pepsi, Tango, Lipton, MiWadi and Ballygowan.

Keep ReadingShow less
Met Police identifies four suspects in Post Office Horizon scandal

Met Police identifies four suspects in Post Office Horizon scandal

The Metropolitan Police has identified two new suspects in its investigation into possible criminal offences as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal. This takes the total number of individuals to four as the force also revealed it believes more suspects will be identified as the inquiry progresses.

Scotland Yard said members of the investigation team met with Sir Alan Bates, the leading Post Office campaigner, and fellow victims to update them on the development.

Keep ReadingShow less
Discover Britain's top hotspots for independent shops

(Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Discover Britain's top hotspots for independent shops

New research by American Express Shop Small reveals the nation’s top 10 hotspots for independent shops, showcasing the small businesses and the valuable role they plan in their local communities.

American Express partnered with retail experts GlobalData to identify the top high streets for independent shops through ranking factors such as the number of independent outlets, variety of business types, and vibrancy of the high street.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Walkable high streets boost economy'
(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Getty Images

'Walkable high streets boost economy'

Shoppers who walk and wheel spend more than those arriving by car, states a recent report, demonstrating the significant economic and social benefits of investing in walkable town centres, challenging traditional views on urban accessibility.

The findings published in third edition of "The Pedestrian Pound Report", recently published by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, come at a critical juncture for British high streets, with a record number of retail failures in 2022 and a vacancy rate of nearly one in seven by the end of 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
Yvette Cooper

Home secretary Yvette Cooper speaking at the annual conference hosted by the NPCC and APCC on 19 November 2024

Photo: GOV.UK

Home secretary pledges to restore neighbourhood policing

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans to rebuild neighbourhood policing and combat surging shop theft as part of an ambitious programme of reform to policing.

In her first major speech at the annual conference hosted by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on Tuesday, Cooper highlighted four of the key areas for reform: neighbourhood policing, police performance, structures and capabilities, crime prevention.

Keep ReadingShow less