Waitrose has announced a major change to their milk carton packaging - and it is good news for the environment.
The premium supermarket will scrap the classic coloured milk carton bottle tops with ones that are more sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
Birmingham Live reports that the classic red, blue and green tops on milk cartons will now be replaced with white ones, as they are easier to recycle.
The upmarket chain said: "Unlike fully recyclable plastic milk bottles, coloured milk caps cannot currently be recycled back into food-grade packaging. Introducing clear caps enables retention of the material for reuse within the food sector."
Waitrose predicts that there will be a boost of "1560 tonnes per annum" in rHDPE availability on the market.
The supermarket has said they will now make the changes permanent in every store, following a successful trial back in April on their Essential Milk Cartons.
The trial was run in partnership with dairy giant Muller whose research showed that consumers support the change, if it further improves the availability of food grade recycled plastic material.
Waitrose operates 331 stores across the country. Karen Graley, leader of packaging innovation at Waitrose said: "As food businesses, we need to do more to protect our planet from unnecessary plastic waste so we're delighted to be involved in this trial."
Milk buyer at Waitrose Lisa Oaten said: "Customer feedback during the trial has been overwhelmingly positive and this national rollout will help us achieve our goal of making more of the plastic we use circular and fir to be repurposed time and time again."
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