Morrisons to ban plastic packaging on all bananas

The retail giant said it will be the first supermarket group to remove plastic bags from all bananas sold in its stores.

Morrisons has banned plastic packaging from its bananas (Morrisons/PA)

Morrisons has said it will ban plastic packaging from the bananas it sells in its stores.

The Bradford-based retail giant said it will become the first supermarket group to remove plastic bags from all bananas sold in its stores.

It added that bananas are the second most commonly bought product in its stores and the move will save 180 tonnes of plastic.

This will be the equivalent to removing 45 million single-use plastic carrier bags from circulation.

Morrisons said the move will save 180 tonnes of plastic a year (Morrisons/PA)

Morrisons will replace plastic packaging on bananas with paper bands to keep bunches together, and it will continue to sell some bananas without packaging.

It follows a successful 12-week trial which has removed more than two million pre-packed plastic bags to date, the supermarket said.

Elio Biondo, banana buyer for Morrisons, said: “Bananas have their own packaging – their skins.

“They also grow in bunches which generally means they don’t need bagging together, so a simple sturdy paper band is the ideal alternative.

“In trials the quality of the bananas has remained the same, so this switch out of plastic is a no-brainer.”

The ban is part of Morrisons’ drive to reduce plastic and revert to traditional grocery packaging.

Rival Iceland introduced paper packaging for bananas in 2018 and said it is moving to the next phase of its rollout of the packaging in the next few weeks.