A dedicated refillable zone, the UK's first supermarket frozen ‘pick and mix’ and first borrow-a-box scheme are among a series of ideas being tested from Waitrose & Partners, with the potential to save thousands of tonnes of plastic and packaging.

The retailer testing how customers might be prepared to shop differently in the future at its Botley Road shop in Oxford and taken hundreds of products out of their packaging.

It has the largest number of loose fruit and vegetable lines of any national supermarket, has removed plastic wrap from its flowers and indoor plants and has launched refillable options for everything from wine to beer and cereals to coffees as well as cleaning products.

The test, which will be branded strongly with ‘Waitrose Unpacked’ across the shop to maximise awareness, will run for a period of 11 weeks until 18 August as the supermarket seeks as much feedback as possible.

Head of CSR for Waitrose & Partners, Tor Harris, said: “We are determined to build on the work we’ve already done to reduce packaging - and this test will take our efforts to a whole new level as we help the growing number of customers who want to shop in a more sustainable way. This test has huge potential to shape how people might shop with us in the future so it will be fascinating to see which concepts our customers have an appetite for. We know we’re not perfect and have more to do, but we believe this is an innovative way to achieve something different.”

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