Now we’ve got an arguably bigger challenge on our hands – facing up to the world’s over-reliance on single-use plastic. The trial is the latest in a series of store initiatives aiming to reduce, reuse or replace plastic across the business’s operations, as well as reducing carbon emissions.

In 2016, less than half of all plastic bottles were collected for recycling and only 7% of those were turned into new bottles [Source: The Guardian, A million bottles a minute: world’s plastic binge ‘as dangerous as climate change’, June 2017]. The resulting impact on waterways and marine life is, to put it bluntly, horrifying – with an estimated 12.7 million tonnes ending up in oceans each year. RETHINKING PLASTICEcover was born from seeing first-hand the devastating effect that phosphates from laundry and dishwashing products were having on aquatic life. From 26 February, customers in Sainsbury’s Harringay superstore will have the option to refill selected Ecover cleaning products using bottles that can be used up to 50 times, with the potential to save over a million tonnes of plastic per year. The refill trial will also be extended to a further 19 stores later this year.

Following the retailer’s recent pledge to become Net Zero across its operations by 2040, Sainsbury’s has today announced a new trial of refillable Ecover stations for washing up liquid and laundry detergent.