Locavore’s new range of ‘fill your own’ plastic-free shopping, including milk, shampoo and herbs, was made possible by £100,000 funding from Zero Waste Scotland – supported by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Roseanna Cunningham and Warren McIntyre of Zero Waste Scotland visited the store to launch the new environmentally-conscious range – and use Locavore’s example to announce Zero Waste Scotland is now seeking ideas from businesses to reduce single-use packaging.
In Scotland, households produce around 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year – much of which ends up in landfill.
Warren McIntyre, programme manager for resource efficiency, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Zero Waste Scotland has worked with Locavore to help flag up areas where the store could cut packaging and provided advice and funding to help them introduce these new packaging-free options for customers. I’m really excited to see this in action in the brand-new shop. Shoppers are increasingly concerned about single-use packaging which is often not, or can’t be, recycled. While packaging has a role to play in ensuring food and other products reach consumers in good condition, businesses such as Locavore show that it can be reduced – and that’s extremely popular with shoppers.
“The best way for businesses to take action then is to help reduce the amount of packaging we’re all using. That’s why Zero Waste Scotland is looking for more ideas from businesses to help cut single-use packaging in Scotland. We have funding and support available which could make your plans a reality – so get in touch.”
Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, said: “It was fantastic to visit Locavore to launch its new range of packaging-free goods and see for myself how customers can come back again and again for essential items, thanks to the use of refillable containers. My parents used to live in this area and would have loved this shop and its products which are all locally-sourced. It’s ideas like this that are at the heart of the Scottish Government’s Making Things Last Strategy, which looks to develop our circular economy and protect our environment by keeping products in use as much as possible.”
Links
Single-use packaging funding call