Soft plastics, including cling film, biscuit wrappers and carrier bags, can now be recycled in nearly 30 new co-operative convenience store locations in the south of England.

The soft plastics recycling bins are currently being rolled out to Southern Co-op stores in Addlestone, Bognor Regis, Bournemouth, Bradford on Avon, Bristol, Broadbridge Heath, Chichester, East Wittering, Exmouth, Freshwater, Horsham, Sturminster, Weymouth, Windsor, Wrecclesham, and several locations in Hampshire.

It is hoped that the trial of soft plastics recycling bins will enable customers to safely recycle materials that can’t be recycled at home.

The independent, regional co-operative has initially chosen 29 stores to trial the bins and, if successful, it is hoped they could be rolled out to even more of its convenience stores across the south of England.

Simon Eastwood, Chief Operating Officer for Retail at Southern Co-op, said: “A lot of work has been done behind the scenes to reduce unnecessary packaging, and to switch to recyclable materials wherever possible.

“This is the next step as it will mean all Co-op own brand packaging will be easier to recycle in store or via council kerbside collection.

“We would urge all our customers and members to make use of these new recycling points. Simply give it a quick clean, scrunch it up to test if it is soft plastic, and pop it into store. It doesn’t even have to have been bought in store to be recycled with us.”

The initiative was first launched by the national co-operative, Co-op Group, in July after its own trials found that 86% of shoppers were likely to use the service.

Once collected, the recyclable material is sent to a company called Jayplas which will turn it into post-consumer plastic granules. These are then made into secondary products such as bin liners, buckets, and construction industry materials.

The stores it will be initially rolled out to are:

Berkshire – Windsor’s Arthur Road; Bristol – Ashley Down Road; Devon – Exmouth’s Exeter Road; Dorset – Bournemouth’s Belle Vue Road, Bearwood’s King John Avenue, Sturminster’s Station Road, and Weymouth’s Chickerell Road; Hampshire – Portsmouth’s Eastney Road, Denmead’s Hambledon Road, Rooksdown’s Limes Park, Wickham’s The Square, Hayling Island’s Elm Grove, Liphook’s Headley Road, Alresford’s West Street, Clanfield’s White Dirt Lane, Lee on Solent’s High Street, Romsey’s Abbotswood, Odiham’s High Street, Southampton’s Hursley Road, Four Marks’s Winchester Road; Isle of Wight – Freshwater’s Afton Road; Surrey – Wrecclesham’s Wrecclesham Road, and Addlestone’s New Haw Road; West Sussex – East Wittering’s Cakeham Road, Bognor Regis’s Hawthorn Road, Horsham’s Guildford Road, Broadbridge Heath’s Wickhurst Square, and Chichester’s Bognor Road; and Wiltshire – Bradford On Avon’s Winsley Road.

Gemma Lacey, Director of Sustainability and Communications at Southern Co-op, said: “We are facing an environmental crisis so we are committed to taking urgent action and working towards a waste free future. The appetite for change is there within our communities so, by making it easier for households to recycle all their plastic food packaging, we can prevent unnecessary waste, reduce plastic pollution and help people play their part in making a positive difference to our environment and our communities.”

Southern Co-op has also recently published its ambitious science based targets to cut direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from its business by 2030, supported by a climate action pathway of planned activity and an initial investment of £5.8m.

Examples of acceptable items for recycling project include: Bread bags, produce bags, ordinary carrier bags, wrappers around kitchen towel and toilet roll, bags that nappies come in, bags from cotton wool, cereal box liners, bags from frozen foods, bags from ice cubes, lids on yogurts, cream and desserts, lids from packs of meat and ready meals, lidding film from cheese packs, wrapping around chicken, fruit and veg flow wrap, chocolate wrappers, wrappers from croissants, pancakes and crumpet etc, biscuit wrappers, wrappers from cakes and Yorkshire puddings, flower wrappers, bags from dried fruit, sugar, pulses, rice and pasta, protective wrappers from gift wrap, bags from gift tags, pastry packaging, bags from household textiles and similar such as all-purpose cloths, dusters, dishcloths, rubber gloves and scourers, wrappers from pet food, wrappers from pies, pasties and sausage rolls, bagged sweets, pizza wrappers, bags from porridge and muesli pouches, and packaging from baby wipes and similar.

All store waste is already diverted from landfill with dry mixed items separated for recycling and food broken down to produce biogas and bio-fertiliser through anaerobic digestion.

To view Southern Co-op’s long term strategy including its commitment to climate change and responsible business, visit www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk/our-plan/.