These are the Aldi stores which will trial reusable bags for fruit and veg to help cut down on single-use plastic
The supermarket has invited 60 shops in the region to join the pilot, which will launch at the end of this month
The drawstring bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and will be sold for 25p each.
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Hide AdThe stores taking part include Hartlepool’s Tees Bay Retail Park and Dunston Road, South Shields, Hebburn, Sunderland’s stores in Hylton Riverside Retail Park, St Mark’s Road, Knollside Close and Carley Hill Road, Armstrong Road in Washington, Dragon Lane in Durham,
Bosses at the company say it is the latest step to reduce unnecessary plastic as it works towards reducing plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2023.
If introduced nationally, the initiative will remove the equivalent of 113 tonnes of single-use plastic from circulation each year.
Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi, said: “We are committed to cutting the amount of plastic that Aldi and our customers use, particularly excess or single-use plastic like produce bags.
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Hide Ad“We are hopeful that our customers in Sunderland will embrace these new reusable produce bags whenever they’re buying loose fruit and veg and, together, we will be able to take more than 100 tonnes of plastic a year out of circulation.”
Earlier this year, Aldi launched paper and compostable carrier bags across stores in the North East, scrapped plastic packaging on our four-pack toilet rolls and removed plastic wrapping on tinned tuna multipacks.