Marks and Spencer : M&S TRIALS PLASTIC-FREE PRODUCE AS IT ACCELERATES PLASTIC REDUCTION PLAN

Marks & Spencer today steps-up its commitment to reducing the amount of plastic it uses by launching over 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables completely free of plastic packaging in a trial at its Tolworth store.

To support the trial, M&S has introduced trained greengrocers, who will be on hand to offer customers valuable advice as they select from two aisles of fruit and vegetables free of plastic packaging. The range not only includes hard fruit and veg like potatoes and bananas, but also more perishable items such as soft fruits and berries, which will be retailed in compostable punnets.

In addition to helping customers pick and weigh their products, the greengrocers will provide tips on how best to preserve fresh produce and prevent food waste at home, as M&S has removed 'best before' date labels from fresh fruit and veg as part of the store trial.

Alongside the initiatives at Tolworth, M&S has committed to launching additional lines of loose produce and more sustainable alternatives to plastic in every UK store, which could save 580 tonnes of plastic waste over two years alone. The plan will involve replacing plastic produce bags with paper ones and phasing out plastic barcode stickers in favour of eco-friendly alternatives.

Louise Nicholls, Head of Food Sustainability, said: 'We're proud to launch a series of market-leading initiatives to help our customers take home less plastic. We know our customers want to play their part in cutting out plastic, while as a business our goal is to become zero-waste by 2025. That's why we're working hard to reduce the amount of plastic packaging we use without compromising on food quality and contributing to waste.

'Our trial at Tolworth is an important milestone in our plastic reduction journey and bringing back the traditional greengrocer will play a key part in educating our customers. Our plan is to create long-term impact in the future using tangible insights from the Tolworth store trial.'

The three-month trial at Tolworth will be the springboard for M&S's long-term plastic reduction strategy, providing insights and customer feedback for an effective approach across all stores.

The initiative supports M&S's target of becoming a zero-waste business by 2025. The retailer has already phased out 75 million pieces of plastic cutlery given out in its stores each year and replaced two million straws with paper alternatives as part of its plastics plan, which aims to remove 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging by Spring 2019. All of M&S's packaging will be 'widely recycled' by 2022 in a bid to help customers to recycle more.

To find out about M&S's approach to plastic, please visit: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/plan-a/our-plastics-plan

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For further information, please contact:

M&S Corporate Press Office

0208 718 1919

Notes to Editors:

M&S has launched a plastic plan as part of its target of becoming a zero-waste business by 2025.

• M&S is committed to only using plastic in its business where there is a clear and demonstrable benefit of doing so
• The retailer has committed to removing over 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging from its business by spring 2019, which includes designing plastic out, replacing it with planet friendly alternatives and making sure that any plastic it does use can be easily recycled
• M&S has already phased out 75 million pieces of plastic cutlery given out in its stores each year and replaced two million straws with paper alternatives
• By 2022 all M&S product packaging in the UK will be 'widely recyclable'
• M&S has started phasing out black plastic from products such as ready meals and fruit and vegetables and will extend this to fish, meat and poultry later this year