Tesco, Heinz Announced Partnership to Boost Plastic Recycling

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Tesco stores announced that it has joined hands with Heinz to boost recycling of soft plastics.

In the first step, post-consumer soft plastic packaging is collected at Tesco stores throughout the UK. The collected packaging is delivered to Plastic Energy, where they are converted into an optimal oil feedstock using a patented process. The recycled oil is then used by SABIC as alternative feedstock in the production process to manufacture polymer pellets. Berry Global then applies its thermoforming capabilities to mould the polymer pellets into new, post-consumer recyclable Snap Pots. The completed Snap Pots are sent to Heinz to be filled with Beanz and delivered back to Tesco stores. 

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It must be noted that soft plastic packaging has been a difficult to recycle material. Until 2020, only 6% of the soft plastics in the UK were recycled. Tesco had started collecting soft plastics at all of its large stores starting last year. A recent trial indicated that Tesco recycled over 80% of the soft plastics returned by its customers. It had recently hit the milestone of 500 tonnes of soft plastics collected through its outlets.

The UK’s Resources and Waste Minister, Jo Churchill commented that businesses across the UK are stepping up to tackle plastic pollution.