Sainsbury's 'green' bags

- Published: 12 September, 2006

Sainsbury's is joining the battle for the green consumer by packaging more than 500 own-brand products in compostable packs, rather than plastic.

Sainsbury's has joined the battle for the green consumer by packaging more than 500 of its own-brand products in compostable packs, rather than plastic.

The scheme, which started on 8 Septmeber, has 50% of the supermarket's organic fruit and vegetables using the compostable packs. By next autumn it is expected all ready meals and selected organic meat products will also be included.

Justin King, Sainsbury's chief executive, said: "Our customers tell us that food packaging is extremely important to them and can determine what they buy, so our packaging team has been looking at ways to address these concerns."

Sainsbury's says the scheme will save 3,550t of plastic a year and is the latest attempt to win 'green' customers.

Tesco recently lauched a scheme to give Clubcard points in exchange for using old plastic bags.