Italian retailer cooperative Unicoop Tirreno has ceased the sale of plastic disposable products in two of its stores in the Tuscany region.
As of the beginning of March, the Castiglione della Pescaia and Isola d'Elba stores stopped the sale of single-use plastic dishes, glasses, cutlery, as well as cups and straws.
To replace these articles, Unicoop consumers can purchase reusable, environmentally-friendly utensils.
The initiative will be gradually extended to overall Unicoop Tirreno stores, throughout the Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria regions.
The announcement follows a series of initiatives taken by Coop to address the problem of plastic pollution, in line with its commitment to use 6,400 tonnes a year of recycled plastic by 2025.
Coop has also joined the voluntary campaign of the European Commission regarding plastic reduction.
In a statement, the retailer said that it plans to adopt recyclable, compostable or reusable packaging materials for all Coop products by 2022, eight years before the deadline set by the EU.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Alessandra Arosio. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
