MORRISONS has completely removed plastic packaging from its Christmas gift wrap and accessory ranges.
The supermarket said the move has removed over 3.1 tonnes of plastic shrink wrap from its wrapping paper alone.
It comes in addition to the removal of glitter and plastic from its paper wrap, crackers, and cards in previous years, which Morrisons said reduced plastic in its range by over 150 tonnes in the last three years.
This year, Morrisons has removed plastic film and plastic shrink wrap from its festive wrapping paper and gifting accessories such as gift tags and bags. Gift bags will comprise of recyclable paper, replacing their plastic ribbon handles with a paper twist or paper braid alternative.
To help customers and make disposing of festive wrap easier, Morrisons is also launching a fully recyclable sticky tape, meaning there is no need to remove it before placing it in curbside collections or contaminating the paper recycling stream with bits of plastic.
The price of wrapping paper has also been halved since last Christmas. Previously costing £2 in 2021, wrapping paper will cost just 99p this year and gift bags have also been reduced, which the supermarket said will give customers more incentive to have an eco-friendlier Christmas.
Jodie Mackrill, buying manager for Christmas and events at Morrisons, said,“We are always looking to find ways to reduce and remove plastic packaging across all of the products we sell. It’s what our customers tell us they want too. During the Christmas period, 269,423 miles of wrapping paper are used every year, contributing to plastic ending up in landfill.
“Our new entirely plastic-free Christmas wrap and gift range means customers can have a more sustainable Christmas and we hope that cutting costs on gift bags and wrapping paper will help them in that.”
