A supermarkets in the Netherlands launched 'no plastics access' on February 28 to display products that are not plastic-wrapped, and environmentalists believe the move is a turning-point in the fight against the plastics contamination campaign.
The supermarket in Amsterdam, part of the supermarket chain Ekoplaza, offers its customers more than 700 items without plastic wrap, all in the same channel.
The items in the channel include meat, rice, butter, dairy products, chocolate, cereal, yogurt, snacks, fruits and vegetables.
The supermarket has introduced a plastic-free access, a growing public concern triggered by plastic pollution.
According to a survey released earlier this year by the Guardian in Britain, supermarkets in the United Kingdom are one of the major sources of plastic pollution and produce nearly 1 million tons of plastic every year. In the past 12 months, environmentalists have been calling for all supermarkets to establish plastic-free aisle.
Xi'an Sutherland, founder of Plastic Planet, said the Ekoplaza supermarket has a plastic-free access and is "a global milestone in the fight against plastic pollution."
Sutherland said: 'In the past decades, consumers have been selling a lie that our food and drink are inseparable from plastics, plastic channels to disperse all the lies, and finally, we can see the future of the public You can choose whether or not to buy a plastic wrap product. Now we have no choice. '
Ekoplaza Supermarket said that by the end of this year, its 74 stores will all be launched similar to the plastic-free access.
Ekoplaza chief executive Eric Dauds said: "I know our customers are extremely tired of wrapping them in layers of thick plastic packaging." Plastic-free access is indeed an innovative way to test biodegradable materials for plastics Packaging offers a more environment-friendly alternative. '
The Guardian quoted environmentalists as saying that commodities without plastic packaging would not be more expensive and equally convenient to buy, Sutherland said: 'Plastic packaging can last for a few days, but the destruction of the planet lasts for centuries. '
A recent survey by the British company Populist showed that 91% of Britons supported the introduction of plastic-free access in supermarkets.