• 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

Food and agriculture start-up accelerator, Rocket Seeder, is partnering with the City of Melbourne (Australia) and City of Bandung (Indonesia) to tackle food waste, with the launch of the Melbourne-Bandung Food Waste Challenge 2025.

Wine Australia and Australian Grape & Wine have teamed up once again to search for the next generation of change-makers in Australia’s grape and wine sector, opening up applications for leadership development program, Future Leaders 2025.

Independent West Australian craft brewery, Beerfarm, is breaking ground for a new brewery and taphouse on the New South Wales Central Coast, which the company states will increase its national product volume by 30 per cent.