An Amsterdam supermarket is the first of its kind to have a plastic-free aisle, inviting shoppers to buy more sustainably. Plastic packaging has been in the public eye and media following concerns about plastic pollution around the world in the environment, and is subsequently affecting the food and water that humans eat and drink.
The shop will offer over 700 products that are plastic-free and all available in one aisle. Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet said that the opening of the plastic-free aisle is a “landmark moment for the global fight against plastic pollution.”
She added: “For decades, shoppers have been sold the lie that we can’t live without plastic in food and drink. A plastic-free aisle dispels all that. Finally, we can see a future where the public have a choice about whether to buy plastic or plastic-free. Right now we have no choice.”
The aisle will be in the Amsterdam branch of Ekoplaza, and the supermarket chains has said that it hopes to roll out the same aisle in 74 of their other branches by the end of the year. Erik Does, the chief executive of Ekoplaza said that the plastic-free aisle is “an important stepping stone to a brighter future for food and drink.”
Does added: “We know that our customers are sick to death of products laden in layer after layer of thick plastic packaging. Plastic-free aisles are a really innovative way of testing the compostable biomaterials that offer a more environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic packaging.”
Products in the aisle are the usual groceries that consumers would buy, including yoghurt, snacks, cereals, rice and fresh fruit and vegetables. Although the products are free from plastic packaging, some items are packaged in biodegradable materials where necessary, and that this new initiative allows there to be testing for more traditional packaging such as cardboard, glass and metal.