Nine of the UK’s largest grocery retailers, supported by UK Governments and WRAP, have signed a joint Statement of Intent to explore how reusable packaging could be rolled out across their stores.
A united industry effort
For the first time, the UK’s leading grocery retailers are aligned behind a shared ambition: to make it easy for shoppers to return packaging to be reused - both in-store and online - across all participating retailers.
This marks a bold commitment to developing standardised, interoperable systems that reduce the volume of single-use packaging on the market, while improving the customer experience.
It represents a significant step toward a more circular economy, built on reduction, reuse, and citizen participation.
“We, the grocery retailers of the UK (Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl GB, Morrisons, Ocado Retail, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose), supported by Innovate UK, WRAP, DEFRA, DAERA, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government, share a common ambition: to enable greater consumer participation in a circular economy by exploring how reusable packaging - with a focus on prefill - can be implemented through interoperable systems. Recognising the challenges of scale, we intend to collaborate on solutions that have the potential to significantly reduce single-use packaging by 2030.”
What’s next?
The group invites additional stakeholders to join this industry-wide initiative.
The next step is a webinar in September, where brands, manufacturers and suppliers can engage directly with The Reuse Packaging Partnership.
“Unlocking reuse for UK retailers and their customers will only be achieved through collaboration and shared goals. Today’s joint statement of intent is an important first step in realising our collective ambition. It also signposts to our wider supply chains our intent to build reuse at scale, increase circularity in our packaging and help customers move away from single use to a more reusable future.”
James Bull, Chair, Retailer Group
