Waitrose has become the latest major brand to commit to reducing plastic waste. The retailer will stop selling own label food products in black plastic packaging beyond 2019.

Waitrose said it has already removed 65% of black plastic from its fruit and vegetable packaging. It will stop using black plastic for meat, fish, fruit and vegetables by the end of 2018.

Tor Harris, Head of Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing at Waitrose, commented: “Tackling the use of plastics across our business is a key priority for us and we have committed that all our packaging will be widely recycled, reusable or home compostable by 2025. Our work to eliminate black plastic packaging from our shops sees us taking a step towards accomplishing this.

“Not many people realise that black plastic is tough to recycle. As a retailer dedicated to reducing the impact of plastic packaging on the environment, becoming black plastic free across all our own label products is the right thing to do.”

Last week, Iceland become the first major retailer to commit to eliminating plastic packaging for all its own label products. Amid mounting pressure on retailers and manufactures to use more environmentally friendly packaging, Iceland said the process to eliminate plastic from its product range was now underway and aimed to be completed by the end of 2023.

Major brands such as Evian and Coca-Cola have also recently committed to switching to only using recycled plastics in their packaging.