SHOPPERS in Gwent will now be able to recycle cling film, crisp packets and salad bags at Tesco stores as the supermarket rolls out the biggest network of soft plastic collection points in the UK.

Tesco is putting the collection points in 41 Welsh stores - including in Newport, Abergavenny, Chepstow and Pontypool - as it rolls out the facilities to 171 Tesco Extras and Superstores, with plans to roll out the scheme to all large stores UK-wide.

This will be the first time that Wales has had a network of collection points of this size dedicated to the collection of soft plastic.

Most councils don’t collect soft plastic from homes for recycling and it therefore often goes to landfill.

The collection points will enable customers to return all their previously unrecycled soft plastic, regardless of where they bought it, including cling film, pet food pouches and crisp packets to recycling points at their local store, rather than having to throw it away.

Once collected, the old soft plastic is sent for recycling where it is washed, sorted and processed before being turned into new packaging. It will be used to pack items such as food, household and beauty products.

The most common items to be returned during the trial were:

  • Bread bags
  • Fruit and vegetable packaging
  • Crisp packets
  • Salad bags
  • Baby and pet food pouches

One of the new stores getting the recycling point is Tesco’s Talbot Green Extra store in Pontyclun.

Store manager Ian Horton said: “We know that a lot of our customers want to reduce their plastic packaging waste so we are expecting the new soft plastics recycling point to prove popular. It will be a really visible sign in store of what we are doing to reduce the impact of plastic packaging.”

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Tesco store director for South West Wales Mike Casey said: “It is an absolute priority to remove and reduce the amount of plastic in our stores to the minimum and ensure everything we use is recycled and kept out of the environment.

"Where plastic serves an important purpose, these new recycling points make sure that every piece can be easily recycled. Trials have shown they are popular with customers, so we believe rolling them out at scale will have a real impact.”

Paula Chin, WWF sustainable materials specialist added: “Plastic pollution is one of the most visible symptoms of the environmental crisis and is devastating our natural world.

"Businesses, governments and households have all got an important part to play in tackling the issue, so it’s encouraging to see Tesco extending their successful soft plastics collection trial across more of their stores, giving their customers even more opportunity to recycle these valuable materials.”