Morrisons’ own-brand milk to be sold in new carbon neutral cartons

In a bid to reduce plastic waste, Morrisons has started selling its own-brand fresh milk in “carbon neutral” cartons instead of plastic jugs.

The retail giant claims the decision to sell nine types of Morrisons fresh milk in Tetra Pak cartons is a first among UK supermarkets and will remove an initial 100 tonnes of plastic a year.

Of the supermarket’s 19 own-label fresh juice products, 14 have also been moved from plastic bottles to cartons in order to remove another 678 tonnes of plastic per year, it said.

The new cartons are made from plant-based paperboard which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and feature a very thin layer of plastic coating and twist caps made from polyethylene which is derived from sustainably-sourced sugar cane.

According to Tetra Pak, the plant-based carton was first launched in 2015 as the world’s first fully-renewable beverage carton and remains the only such carton.

They are certified by the Carbon Trust as carbon neutral and can be recycled kerbside in most UK regions and at recycling banks across the country.

The nine fresh milk products that will be sold in the new Tetra Pak cartons include the 500ml (60p), one litre (95p) and two litre (£1.25) sizes, covering skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole milk options.

The supermarket giant hopes to move all of its fresh milk products to the carbon neutral cartons if the rollout is successful.

It comes after Morrisons swapped plastic wraps for its toilet and kitchen rolls to FSC-certified paper to cut down even further on plastic waste. In 2019, it became the first supermarket to introduce paper carrier bags at checkouts.

Morrisons has previously committed to reducing its own-brand primary plastic packaging by 50 per cent by 2025, and has reduced it by more than 8,000 tonnes a year since 2017.

Tony Fearon, dairy category director at Morrisons, said: “Fresh milk does not need to be in a plastic bottle. It keeps just as fresh in a carton. Fresh milk is the op user of plastic packaging in our stores, so this will result in siginificant plastic reduction.

“Tetra Pak has also been independently verified as a better sustainable packaging option. If customers take to it, we could be looking to move all of our fresh milk to Tetra Pak cartons in time.”

Hugh Jones, managing director of advisory at the Carbon Trust, added: “We welcome this move by Morrisons towards reducing the environmental impact of its milk packaging.

“Our Carbon Trust ‘Carbon Neutral’ label, which will feature on these milk products in their new Tetra Pak packaging, recognises the CO2 reduction of this move and certifies that the cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of the packaging is in line with targets.”