Waitrose is starting a trial aimed at reducing packaging by removing plastic from flowers and plants and offering more loose fruit and vegetables. Customers will be able to use their own containers to buy and refill produce such as pasta, rice and cereals. It says it wants to find out how people might shop in the future. The trial is taking place at a store in Oxford where Waitrose says hundreds of products have been taken out of their packaging and there will be about double the usual amount of fruit and vegetables package-free. In what it describes as a first in the UK, customers will be able to "borrow a box' to take their produce home for a £5 deposit which is refundable when the box is returned.Wine and beer refills will also be offered as will Ecover detergent and washing up liquid. The trial is the latest among the major supermarkets to try to cut down on packaging.
