It’s a ‘wheelie’ green basket from The Co-operative

The Co-operative Group has introduced the UK’s first baskets on wheels made using 100% recycled plastic into its food stores.
 
The only recycled plastic shopping baskets of their kind, the new generation “wheelie” baskets are made from selected, cleaned plastic that would otherwise be sent to landfill or for incineration. The retailer - recently named Green Supermarket of the Year by The Grocer magazine - rolled out the first 100% recycled standard shopping baskets made from the same materials earlier this year. 

Allowing the weight of the shopping to be supported by the basket and not the shopper, the baskets on wheels are ideal for Co-operative customers buying a larger number of products or for those who would rather not carry heavy items.

The baskets are currently being rolled out to Co-operative stores as they are refitted and will eventually be introduced to all food stores nationwide. By the end of 2010 there will be 8,000 recycled baskets on wheels in circulation, which, when coupled with the introduction of the 100% recycled standard shopping baskets, will save 75 tonnes of CO2 per year.

This initiative is the latest in a long line of innovative recycling initiatives from The Co-operative Group, whose Manchester head office complex is also home to the North West’s largest in-house office waste recycling centre.  

In 2007, the Group introduced its pioneering “Closed Loop” scheme, which involves collecting waste paper from the head office complex, which is then recycled and used to make own-brand recycled bathroom tissue and kitchen towel sold in Co-operative stores.

For further information, please contact:

 
Eve Alexander
Senior Public Relations Officer
The Co-operative Group
Tel: 0161 827 5895
Email: eve.alexander@co-operative.coop