UK supermarket chain Waitrose has launched a new environmentally friendly packaging for its Duchy Organic cherry tomatoes and baby plum tomatoes.
The new non-plastic punnet is made out of tomato leaves, Waitrose stated.
The company combined dried tomato leaf and recycled cardboard pulp to manufacture the new style punnets.
The 200g Waitrose Duchy Organic cherry tomatoes on the vine packaged in new punnets are being trialled across 286 branches while the punnet for Waitrose Duchy Organic baby plum tomatoes 225g is made available in 170 branches.
If the trial is successful, the new packaging will be rolled out to further branches next year, which could potentially save 3.5 million plastic trays per annum.
Waitrose Fresh Produce head Nicola Waller said: “We are determined to reduce our use of plastic across our business.
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By GlobalData“This builds on our commitment to ensure that all our own-label packaging is widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025.
“Since 2009, we’ve reduced overall packaging across all products by nearly 50% and are excited about this imaginative way to present our Duchy Organic tomatoes to our customers.”
Additionally, Waitrose uses boxes partly made from pulses for its Red Lentil Pasta and Waitrose Green Pea Pasta.
These boxes are claimed to reduce the use of virgin tree pulp by 15% and lower greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.
Waitrose Duchy Organic eggs are packaged in a box made from a mixture of rye grass and recycled paper, which annually saves 77t of wood and paper.