Marks & Spencer expands 'bring your own container' scheme to reduce plastic waste

Initiative to include a second store in Manchester city centre

Marks & Spencer is extending its “bring your own container” scheme that encourages customers to buy and refill produce.

Last year, the supermarket chain started selling items such as cereals, pasta, coffee and rice in large dispensers as part of an initiative to help reduce the amount of plastic packaging waste.

Now the scheme, which began at the retailer’s Hedge End store in Southampton and offered a total of 44 packaging-free products, is being expanded to include a second store in Manchester city centre due to consumer demand.

Highlighting the popularity of its refill scheme at the Southampton store, Marks & Spencer revealed that 25 of the 44 “fill your own” products were outselling the packaged alternatives.

Bestsellers include its triple chocolate crunch cereal, whole porridge oats, basmati rice, milk chocolate raisins, single-origin Brazilian coffee and fiorelli pasta.

The expansion follows a recent survey conducted by Marks & Spencer which showed that more than three-quarters of customers said they were trying to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they use.

Furthermore, 38 per cent of consumers cited the main barrier to using refill schemes is finding retailers that offer them, followed by 18 per cent who highlighted the need to carry containers around and the inconvenience of doing so.

Participants also mentioned having the perception that unpackaged items are more expensive.

Paul Willgoss, director of food technology at Marks & Spencer, told The Guardian: “Our ‘fill your own’ concept is one area we’re focusing on as part of our action to reduce plastic packaging and support our customers to reuse and recycle.

“We’re keen to better understand refill across the entire store process from behind the scenes operations to working with our customers to encourage behaviour change.”

Marks & Spencer isn’t the only supermarket looking to introduce fill-your-own models.

In August 2019, Waitrose extended its “bring your own container’ trial to include four stores in Oxford, Cheltenham, Abingdon and Wallingford after it was met with a positive response from shoppers.

Products included in Waitrose’s refillable section are roughly 15 per cent cheaper than packaged items so as to encourage customers to make the most of the eco-friendly initiative.

Elsewhere, Asda has announced plans to launch a new “sustainability store” where customers can refill containers with food products including coffee, tea and cereal in its Middleton, Leeds, branch from May.

When consumers bring their own containers to the store, they will be able to fill them up with Asda own-brand coffee, rice and pasta, in addition to Kellogg’s cereals and PG Tips tea.