Black plastic is on its way out of many big Supermarkets, such as Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, and Asda. The plastic will no longer be used in any of the various brands’ own products by the end of the year.
Black plastic is the hardest form of plastic to recycle because it has a carbon pigment that means it can only be sent to landfills or burned. Supermarkets choosing to remove the product from their sales will help reduce their footprint as well as allow for less plastic to find its way to landfills and the ocean. The way for this change has been paved by Lidl after they removed black plastic last year, followed by Morrisons who promised to remove plastic two weeks ago. Black plastic makes up much of the packaging found in microwave meals and other preprepared foods.
This reduction in plastic waste will do great things for both the brands and people buying their products due to the loss of additional waste. Waitrose is already almost completely plastic-free and thus ahead of many other Grocers. Yet, they too are still attempting to remove black plastic before the end of this year. Other supermarkets, such as Aldi and Iceland, have promised to remove black plastic for the end of next year. This promise furthers the hope that plastics are on their way out of the common domain, making room for newer, more sustainable, forms of packaging.
This change from black plastic to none is a great step in the progression of climate activism across the UK and will hopefully continue to lead to positive change. Now we can only trust that these supermarkets will keep their public promises and fully remove black plastic from their products. Hopefully, this can be a gateway for the irradiation of plastic as a whole in the future.
