Sainsbury’s has introduced new cardboard hangers across its Tu Clothing Babywear range, replacing five million plastic hangers and saving approximately 103 tonnes of plastic.
Following a successful trial, the swap—a first for a UK supermarket—will be offered at more than 400 stores. Customers are now able to recycle the cardboard hangers at home, thereby lowering their own environmental effect.
Sainsbury’s also provides an in-store recycling service for plastic hangers from Tu Clothing in an effort to promote a circular economy for packaging. Customers and coworkers can leave their plastic hangers behind while checking out in-store, and they will be collected and recycled.
The business returned 12 million hangers from checkouts between January and July of this year, amounting to 85 tonnes of plastic. It has also made a series of changes to other packaging in recent months, including being the first UK retailer to switch its laundry detergent packaging from plastic to cardboard.
