Top news for recycling

The Co-operative has reduced the tint in all of its own-brand plastic coloured milk bottle tops, to make it easier for them to be recycled into new bottles.

The food retailer sells 202 million bottles of milk every year, and says that, previously, the amount of recycled plastic that could be used to make new clear milk bottles was limited because bottle tops colour the material.

It says the move will mean it can potentially increase the recycled content of plastic milk bottles from 10 per cent to 30 per cent – helping to produce an extra 4,500 tonnes of recyclable material every year.

“Protecting the environment is a key part of The Co-operative’s groundbreaking Ethical Plan, and we are proud to be leading the way with this initiative,” says Iain Ferguson, the retailer’s environment manager. “The Co-operative is the first UK retailer to complete this move on all of its own-brand milk bottles.”