First it stopped the sales of disposable plastic water bottles, now Selfridges has announced plans to remove all single-use plastic bottles containing carbonated drinks from its stores.
The world-famous department store has not sold single-use water bottles for almost two years and said the latest move aims to further encourage customers to end their use of throwaway plastic and switch to aluminium cans or glass.
Taking effect this week, Selfridges hopes it will stop the sale of the equivalent of six tonnes of plastic as well as encourage other companies to remove the bottles from their offices and retail outlets.
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“We are seeing a huge shift in people’s attitudes to single-use plastic water bottles, and now, carbonated drinks,” Selfridges Group deputy chairwoman Alannah Weston said.
“We still have a long way to go but we can encourage environmentally conscious behaviour from individuals, to manufacturers, and retailers.
“At Selfridges we want to continue to support that change and give our customers the choice to buy better.”
Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “Selfridges has been highlighting marine conservation issues for nearly a decade.
“It is continuing to confront the crisis in our oceans by dealing with the problem of plastics at its source – banning the single-use plastic drinks bottles produced by carbonated soft drinks companies.
“Hopefully, Selfridges’ bold move will make soft drink giants have a rethink about their reliance on single-use plastic bottles.”
Selfridges also recently became the first retailer to upcycle used coffee cups from in-store and at its headquarters into its iconic yellow shopping bags.
The initiative followed scientific data showing that paper coffee cups could not be recycled, and with 2.5 billion paper cups used in the UK each year.
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