Asda to offer refill stations at ‘sustainability store’

Asda is launching a new “sustainability store” where shoppers will be able to fill containers with own-brand products as well as Kellogg’s cereals and PG Tips tea.

From May, the Middleton store will become the first Asda in the UK where shoppers can fill up their own containers with products such as own-brand coffee, rice and pasta, Kellogg’s cereals such as Coco Pops and Rice Krispies and Unilever’s PG Tips tea.

In addition to the refill stations, the store will sell plastic-free flowers and loose produce such as cucumbers and mushrooms without plastic packaging.

Customers shopping at the store will be asked to give their feedback on various trials that will last for at least three months before a decision is made on whether to roll out, re-trial or stop the scheme.

The supermarket has removed 8,000 tonnes of plastic from its own-brand packaging since 2018 and recently committed to reducing plastic by 15% by February 2021 and making all its own-brand packaging regardless of material 100% recyclable by 2025.

Asda chief executive Roger Burnley said: “We’re on an ongoing quest to remove and reduce the amount of plastic in our business and to find new ways to help our customers to reuse and refill our products.

“It’s a journey we can’t go on alone, which is why we invited our suppliers to innovate with us and I’m delighted that household names like Kellogg’s and Unilever have joined us in testing new ideas and approaches to sustainability at our Middleton store.

“Over the coming weeks and months, we will be testing and learning from the customers in Middleton to understand how we can reduce our environmental impacts whilst still maintaining the great service and quality our customers demand.”