Waitrose has announced two initiatives to reduce the use of plastics in its health and beauty ranges.

The retailer has pledged that by September this year no branded cosmetic products sold in its stores will contain plastic microbeads in response to concerns that they harming marine wildlife. The chain’s own label range of beauty products have never contained microbeads.

Waitrose is also set to become the first UK supermarket to change the stems of its own label cotton wool buds from plastic to paper this September – saving around 21 tonnes of plastic each year. The new stems will be biodegradable and made from an FSC source of paper.

Organisations such as Greenpeace, the United Nations and the Marine Conservation Society have campaigned to end the use of microbeads and plastic cotton bud stems due the damage they are causing to marine ecosystems

Tor Harris, Waitrose’s Head of Sustainability and responsible sourcing, said: “Minimising our impact on the environment is a top priority and this is absolutely the right thing to do. Although the changes we’re making don’t seem dramatic, they are likely to have a positive impact for marine life. We know there’s more work to be done and we will continue to see how we can reduce plastics across our ranges.”