UK customers urged to bin excess packaging

A supermarket chain is asking customers to return excess packaging.

Asda said the move will help put pressure on big name brands to reduce product waste.

The pilot scheme at two busy branches follows Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw’s calls for shoppers to leave “excessive and unnecessary” packaging behind at stores.

Asda is asking shoppers to put excess packaging into huge wheelie bins in front of its outlets in York and Dewsbury.

If successful, it will roll out the pilot scheme to all UK stores.

Spokesman Dominic Burch said: “We want to reduce packaging waste as quickly as we can, so it makes perfect sense to enlist the help of an entire army of our most vigilant allies – our customers.”

The chain’s staff will examine and photograph excess packaging, then advise the product manufacturers how they can cut down.