Tesco will start taking customers’ soft plastic waste at all its 151 stores by the end of March, to be recycled into new solid items, including car park barriers and signs.

The retailer is partnering with Paltech which flakes the waste plastic and prepares it for processing into construction materials to be used in new Tesco stores, and in store maintenance and refits including buildings, car park barriers and signage.

At in-store collection points made from waste plastic, customers will be able to remove unwanted soft plastic packaging such as cling-wrap or outer wrap from water bottle multi-packs at the end of their shopping trip.

Customers can also leave hard, recyclable plastic packaging, such as multi-pack fresh produce packaging, which will be recycled as normal.

Chief executive Kari Daniels said: “Tesco has been working hard for a long time to remove plastic from its business. Where we need packaging, because it serves a clear purpose like reducing food waste or to protect a product in transit, we do our best to ensure that what we do use is from sustainable sources and where possible, goes on to be reused or recycled.

In Association with

“We know we have more to do, and today, we’re proud to be the first retailer to provide a recycling solution for soft plastics in Ireland. We’re particularly proud to partner with Paltech, an indigenous startup, as we seek to address recycling soft plastics within Ireland.”

Paltech R&D director Adrian Doyle added: “Paltech has developed a proprietary manufacturing solution that can repurpose all types of post-consumer plastic packaging into products with a long lifespan, which can also be further recycled at the end of their life.

“ Our partnership is an exciting step forward to support Ireland in reaching the EU recycling commitment of 55% of all packaging waste to be recycled by 2030.”

Paltech is based in Galway and its pilot plant in Nurney, Co Kildare, will handle the waste coming from the Tesco units.

Pic: Naoise Culhane