The Co-operative rolls out recycled shopping baskets

Leading UK convenience retailer, The Co-operative, is introducing recycled plastic shopping baskets in a third of its food stores.

Claimed to be the only fully recycled product of its kind, the new shopping baskets are made from plastic materials that would usually be sent to landfill or for incineration.

The roll out follows trials in selected stores and positive endorsement from shoppers.

By the end of this year, 94,500 baskets will be in use in around 1,000 Co-operative stores, saving 66 tonnes of plastic from landfill or incineration, and 66 tonnes of CO2. The new baskets will eventually be rolled out to all 3,000 Co-operative stores nationwide.

The lightweight baskets are ergonomically designed to curve round the leg to provide maximum comfort when carried. The handle is also designed to make the baskets easier and more comfortable to carry, without putting any undue strain on the wrist.

The basket launch is the latest in a line of recycling initiatives from The Co-operative Group, whose Manchester head office complex is also home to the North West’s largest in-house office waste recycling centre.

In 2007, the Group introduced its Closing the Loop scheme, which involves collecting waste paper from head office, which is then recycled and used to make own-brand recycled bathroom tissue and kitchen towel sold in Co-operative stores.

Sean Toal, commercial director at The Co-operative Food, said: "We’re proud to be at the forefront of green product innovation, and we’re sure our customers will welcome the new generation of shopping baskets, which, as well as being kinder to the environment, are much easier to carry.”

Convenience first: new green shopping baskets