Sainsbury’s Introduce Eco Milk Bags

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is rolling out new eco-friendly milk bags and jugs across its entire product range in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of milk consumption in the UK and encourage sustainable habits.

The partnership with Dairy Crest means that, from today, Sainbury’s will stock whole and semi-skimmed milk ‘bags’ in all of its stores. The supermarket has previously trialled selling semi-skimmed milk bags, with stores selling over 120,000 bags to enthusiastic buyers each week, and it’s hoped that will now double as the supermarket pushes more of its product range.

On average, Sainsbury’s new milk bags contain 75% less plastic than bottles. They also cost six pence less than bottles, are more energy efficient during production, and more compact during disposal.

Already popular in Canada, switching to milk bags could save up to 1,400 tonnes of packaging going to landfills every year.

“This is the biggest change to occur to the nation’s shopping habits for at least a decade,” said Emma Metcalf King, Sainsbury’s senior dairy buyer.

A similar trial was held by rival supermarket Waitrose in 2007, but it ultimately failed and was cancelled. However, Tesco is following suit and trialling similar bags in 10 stores from today.