Edinburgh shoppers have been left feeling a bit confused, as they enter supermarkets to get their weekly milk - only to find their green, blue, red and yellow lids are beginning to disappear.
These coloured lids, which usually depict what type of milk it is, are beginning to be moved out of circulation in supermarkets across the UK. These changes have been coming into force over the last month in stores like Lidl, Aldi, Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury's and Co-op.
Asda and Tesco are currently still using coloured milk tops. But, the question on everybody's lips is, why are the coloured lids turning clear?
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Why are the milk carton lids changing?
The reason the coloured lids are being switched to white, or clear ones instead is quite simple - they're easier to recycle.
Red, blue and green lids are difficult to recycle back into food-grade packaging, as the plastic can cause colour contamination. However, a clear or white cap can easily be reused to create new milk cartons, or other reusable plastic packaging.
How will I know what kind of milk I am buying?
Many people rely on the colour of the milk carton lids to determine which milk they are buying, instead of standing at the cold aisle and reading the label.
In previous times, green lids meant semi-skimmed milk, blue was whole milk, red are skimmed and gold or yellow lids contained Guernsey or Jersey milk.
But now, the labels will be more colourful, so you will be able to identify the milk you want.
How much plastic will be saved using clear bottle lids?
The Co-op believe that the switch from coloured lids to clear could remove over 150 tonnes of coloured plastic from their high-density polythene (HDPE) streams a year.
A spokesperson for Aldi also said that the switch will allow them to recycle around 60 tonnes of HDPE into milk bottles.
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