Tesco shifts its own brand toilet paper packaging to be more eco-friendly

U.K.-based retail chain Tesco has announced its latest eco-friendly initiative. A new way of winding toilet paper more tightly onto cardboard tubes is helping the company reduce the size of its large multipacks without changing the number of sheets per roll.

The new plastic reduction program is another step towards sustainability for Tesco. Last month, the retailer launched a line of dissolvable refills for its own brand cleaning products, allowing consumers to refill plastic bottles instead of buying new ones.

The new toilet paper system means that less plastic is needed to pack them, customers won’t get caught short as they can fit more in their cupboards, double wind rolls will last twice as long on the holder, and Tesco will need fewer lorries to transport the products.

“As well as removing unnecessary plastic, reducing the size of multipacks will free up valuable space in our lorries that can be put to great use this Christmas,” said Katie Frost, buying manager of paper at Tesco. “We are looking at a number of ways to use less packaging as a part of our 4Rs packaging strategy. In the last few years, we have cut six thousand tons of packaging from products, including a billion pieces of plastic.”

 Tesco says the move will save 67 tons of plastic packaging each year. The reduction in size will mean 17 fewer lorries are needed each week to transport the rolls from the supplier to Tesco’s distribution centers. The company says those lorries will be redeployed to deliver other products to stores as they get busier in the run up to Christmas, which will include an expanded line of own brand pet treats.

In December, shoppers will see another change as Tesco shrinks the rolls in its 4 and 9-roll packs of its own brand toilet paper by winding the paper more tightly. This second change will save 14 tons of plastic a year and allow eight lorries to be redeployed.​​​​​​​