Marks & Spencer announced yesterday that it has achieved an 80% reduction in the total number of food carrier bags used since the UK-wide launch of carrier bag charging in early May. The company reports that such a figure means that M&S customers have used about 70 million less plastic bags in the last ten weeks alone. With all profits from the 5p charge going to charity, in the same period, over £200,000 has been raised for M&S’ environmental charity partner, Groundwork. The money... ...Read more »

Plastic recycling has been improved with a revolutionary plant in London being the first to recycle waste plastic bottles back into useful food packaging material. Closed Loop Recycling will take 35,000 tonnes of recovered plastic bottles, including milk and soft drink bottles and turn them back into recycled raw material for new food and drink packaging. The plant will divert a significant amount of waste from landfill. The first customers to purchase the recycled food grade plastic from the plant... ...Read more »

As major Australian supermarkets continue their push away from nationally advertised brands toward private labels, UK retailer Marks & Spencer, the quintessential private label retailer, has tentatively reversed the trend by committing to using branded products for the first time. The famous UK institution has announced that they will trial an offering of around 350 branded products in 19 of their stores in June. “This trial aims to offer customers greater convenience but not... ...Read more »