Sainsbury’s is removing plastic packaging on its bananas in a move that will affect every UK store from next week.
The supermarket is getting rid of the plastic covering on its own-brand five-pack Fairtrade bananas from May 22.
The fruit will instead be packaged with just a paper band as part of Sainsbury’s plans to tackle plastic waste.
Sainsbury’s says the move will remove 25 million single-use plastic bags, which equates to 75 tonnes of plastic, from its stores.
The supermarket has aimed to cut its use of plastic packaging by 50% by 2025.
Its latest changes come after Sainsbury's removed free plastic bags for fruit and veg in stores and replaced them with 30p versions back in 2019.
The reusable drawstring bags that customers can purchase are made from 100% recycled materials.
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The Big Four grocer has also confirmed further environmental updates that are due to come into force over the coming weeks.
This month, the supermarket will get rid of plastic lids from all its salads and coleslaw ranges.
Other changes shoppers will notice include the packaging of Sainsbury’s nut butter being switched to glass, while its double-strength squash bottles upgraded to quadruple strength squash bottles.
From June, Sainsbury’s will also reduce the use of plastic film in its grated cheese lines and across its dessert cheesecake ranges.
Sainsbury's has 600 supermarkets and 800 convenience stores in the UK.
Elsewhere, Tesco is now telling its supplies to speed up scrapping plastic and either supply vegetables loose or in recyclable or compostable packets.
It means shoppers will soon be buying more fruit and vegetables loose at the supermarket.
Tesco wants to remove all plastic wrappers from 5billion items sold by 2025.
The grocer is also trying to sell more items concentrated, which uses less packaging, and is also pressing ahead with stocking more products that can be refilled by customers.
In more supermarket news, Aldi announced it is removing all plastic shrink wrap from its multipack baked beans to reduce its carbon footprint.
The move will save 78 tonnes of single-use plastic from going to landfill each year, the supermarket said.
Aldi charges 99p for its pack of four Corale baked beans.
The budget supermarket will also trial the removal of the outer plastic wrap for its sweetcorn mini packs in a number of stores this summer.
If successful, this will remove a further 24 tonnes of plastic from circulation per year.
Aldi has also pledged to halve the volume of plastic packaging it uses by 2025.
