Asda to offer loose coffee, rice, pasta, Kellogg’s cereal and PG Tips tea at new ‘sustainability store’
ASDA is launching its first-ever refill station where shoppers can buy loose tea, coffee and cereal in a so-called “sustainability” store.
Customers will also be able to stock up on loose pasta and plastic-free flowers, as part of the initiative to encourage shoppers to reuse and recycle.
The refill station will feature big-name brands including Kellogg's and PG Tips, with cereals such as Frosties and Rice Krispies on offer.
It'll also stock Asda own-brand products, including coffee, pasta and rice, plus there will be a "naked florist" where shoppers can buy plastic-free flowers.
The new refill station will launch in May - but only in one store to begin with.
It'll be trialled for three months in the Middleton, Leeds, branch before Asda decides whether to roll it out nationwide.
Shoppers are being encouraged to bring their own containers to use the refill station.
Once they've filled up a container, shoppers then use the scales on the end of the refill station to weigh, label and pay for their food as normal at the main checkouts.
The "sustainability" store will also feature loose produce items including cucumbers and mushrooms removed from their plastic packaging.
Asda told The Sun it hasn't released any pricing information yet, but said it will be based on weight.
We've asked if the supermarket will provide packaging for those who forget their own and we'll update this story as soon as we get a response.
Following in the footsteps of other supermarkets, Asda will also open a reverse vending machine for plastic bottles and cans as part of the trial.
There will also be hanger recycling and a deposit box for unwanted small plastic toys.
Roger Burnley, chief executive of Asda, said: “We’re on an ongoing quest to remove and reduce the amount of plastic in our business.
“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 while still maintaining the great service and quality our customers demand."
Asda is aiming to make all of its packing 100 per cent recyclable by 2025.
But the supermarket isn't the first to trial refill stations - Waitrose does refills for wine, beer, cleaning materials, and loose fruit and veg in four stores.
It follows a trial in April 2019 in the grocer's Botley Road shop in Oxford.
Other supermarkets - including Sainsbury's and Iceland - have also launched reverse vending machines for bottles in the past year.
Meanwhile, Tesco has pledged to remove one billion pieces of plastic from stores by 2020.
MORE ON MONEY
But back in July we revealed how Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco charge shoppers up to 44 per cent MORE for loose fruit and veg.
And despite good efforts to change, supermarket single-use plastic has still soared above 900,000 tonnes in the past year despite pledges to cut down.
Louise Edge, head of Greenpeace UK’s ocean plastics campaign, said: “It’s encouraging to see Asda take steps to ditch throwaway plastic, and introduce the option for customers to refill their own containers."