Tesco picks recycled PET for egg packaging

Eggs are typically packaged in paper and molded pulp or polystyrene foam. But UK-based retailer Tesco decided to test out something new to package its eggs: recycled PET.

The company said that during the last eight weeks, it has tested out a new type of plastic egg packaging in Scotland and Northern Ireland in nearly 200 stores. The packaging, which is made from recycled plastic bottles, has the potential to save more than a million eggs from going to waste each year.

Currently, Tesco's free-range eggs are sold in pulp cartons and if an egg breaks in transit it can seep through the box and damage other packs beneath it. But with the PET packaging, if an egg breaks, it will be contained in one pack. The company is the largest seller of eggs in the country. 

"We know that plastic packs reduce food waste - now we have a pack that will reduce food waste and offer customers a more environmentally friendly packaging solution," said Tesco Technologist Lee Gray. "If used across all our free range egg range then it will save on average more than one million eggs each year that would otherwise be going to waste."

In fact, the company is so happy with the results of the trial, it hopes to roll out the plastic packaging nationwide by the end of the year.

"We're always very pleased to see packaging innovations that save perfectly good food from going to waste," said Emma Marsh, Head of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which is a program that aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste. "Eggs are such a versatile ingredient and can bring together so many ingredients to make a tasty dish so it's great to see that more will be reaching the homes of shoppers who can make the most of them."