Kellogg's cereal and PG Tips tea available from refill point at new "sustainability store"

Shoppers will be able to stock up on branded products including Kellogg's cereal and PG Tips tea in reuseable containers in Asda's first "sustainability store".
Asda's new sustainability store will allow customers to refill their own containers with branded goods.Asda's new sustainability store will allow customers to refill their own containers with branded goods.
Asda's new sustainability store will allow customers to refill their own containers with branded goods.

The initiative, which will take place in one outlet in Leeds, will be a trial and could be rolled out across the country.

Shoppers will be able to fill up their own containers of products, including Asda’s own-brand coffee, rice and pasta - as well as Kellogg’s cereals such as Coco Pops and Rice Krispies.

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Customers shopping at the store will be asked to give their feedback on different trials – allowing Asda and its suppliers to understand more about how these innovative new ideas work in practice. Trials will last for at least three months before a decision is made on whether to roll out, retrial or stop.

Roger Burnley, chief executive of Asda, said: “We’re on an ongoing quest to remove and reduce the amount of plastic in our business – and to find new ways to help our customers to reuse and refill our products. It’s a journey we can’t go on alone, which is why we invited our suppliers to innovate with us and I’m delighted that household names like Kellogg’s and Unilever have joined us in testing new ideas and approaches to sustainability at our Middleton store.

"Over the coming weeks and months we will be testing and learning from the customers in Middleton to understand how we can reduce our environmental impacts whilst still maintaining the great service and quality our customers demand. Our first priority will be to look at how we can reduce and remove plastic and I am excited to learn from our customers and see where this journey will take us.”

In addition to the refill stations, the store will include a ‘naked florist’ offering plastic-free flowers and loose produce with items such as cucumbers and mushrooms being taken out of their plastic packaging. There will also be a range of new recycling facilities, including a reverse vending machine for plastic bottles and cans, hanger recycling and a deposit box for unwanted small plastic toys.

Louise Edge, head of Greenpeace UK’s ocean plastics campaign, said: “UK supermarkets increased their plastic footprint to more than 900,000 tonnes last year, so it’s encouraging to see Asda take steps to ditch throwaway plastic, and introduce the option for customers to refill their own containers. And the fact that big brands like Kellogg’s and PG Tips are included in this trial shows Asda’s having the right conversations with branded suppliers on plastic.

“Plastic is made from fossil fuels, so its production contributes to our climate emergency, and it’s a material that pollutes our rivers and oceans. We’ll never recycle our way out of this crisis, so Asda and other UK supermarkets must urgently reduce plastic by switching to reusable and refillable packaging at scale.”

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