The initiative – which is supported by the UK governments and environmental action group WRAP – will be implemented in both physical stores and online.
The signatories are Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl GB, Morrisons, Ocado Retail, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
In a statement the group said: “We, the grocery retailers of the UK, have a common ambition to work together to enable increased consumer adoption and participation in a circular economy by exploring how reusable packaging (with a focus on prefill) could be implemented through interoperable systems.
“Recognising the challenges to achieving this at scale, we intend to collaborate on an approach that has the potential to deliver a reduction in single use packaging by 2030.”
The stores hope to offer a system which allows customers to shop for “prefilled” items in stores and online.
The announcement followed data from GoUnpackaged showing that moving to just 30% reuse could deliver huge financial and environmental benefits for the UK, including a £136 million annual saving for producers in packaging EPR costs on products in scope, and a 95% reduction in CO2e emissions.
The work of the group will draw on learnings from previous localised pilots, with WRAP acting as the secretariat for the group in aligning goals, infrastructure and citizen needs.
The next stage of the project will see a webinar held in September to allow brands, manufactures and suppliers to engage with group leaders.
James Bull, chair of the retailer group, said: “Unlocking reuse for UK retailers and their customers will only be achieved through collaboration and shared goals.
“Today’s joint statement of intent is an important first step in realising our collective ambition.
“It also signposts to our wider supply chains our intent to build reuse at scale, increase circularity in our packaging and help customers move away from single use to a more reusable future.”
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