• Dutch natural supermarket chain EkoPlaza has launched a plastic-free grocery store aisle. What looks like plastic in this photo is actually biodegradeable biofilm. (Photo: EkoPlaza)
    Dutch natural supermarket chain EkoPlaza has launched a plastic-free grocery store aisle. What looks like plastic in this photo is actually biodegradeable biofilm. (Photo: EkoPlaza)
Close×

A 'world-first' retail experiment involving a supermarket aisle free of plastic has been launched in Amsterdam.

More than 700 products are now available without plastic packaging in the aisle, which has been set up in a new metro-sized pilot store of supermarket chain Ekoplaza.

The products include meat, rice, sauces, dairy, chocolate, cereals, fruit and vegetables.

The environmental campaign group behind the idea, A Plastic Planet, said the aisle was a “landmark moment” in the global fight against plastic pollution.

Co-founder Sian Sutherland has called for more supermarkets globally to follow Ekoplaza’s lead.

Iceland has pledged to go plastic-free on all its own-brand packaging by 2023, and in the Netherlands, Ekoplaza will roll out plastic-free aisles across its 74 branches by the end of this year.

The aisle will be used to test out new compostable bio-materials, as well as using traditional materials including glass, metal and cardboard, the scheme’s backers said.

Goods within the aisle will carry the Plastic Free Mark, a label introduced by A Plastic Planet to help shoppers identify products that are free of plastic packaging.

Food & Drink Business

Western Australian producer, Brownes Dairy, has been put up for sale according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), as one of its biggest lenders, China Mengniu Dairy, calls in its $200 million loan. A reduced demand for milk in China and the current positioning of the global market could be driving the decision.

The Central Coast is about to receive a boost to its local food and beverage manufacturing industry, with construction starting on the $17.14 million Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub, funded by the federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund (NFR).

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) says Australia is at a “critical crossroads” when it comes to R&D and decades of rhetoric have not delivered material change.