In an attempt to reduce their environmental impact, the UK's biggest retailer is to remove one billion pieces of plastic from products by the end of 2020.
Tesco will replace small plastic bags, commonly used to pack loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items, and replace them with paper ones.
It also plans to remove plastic trays and lids on products such as cream and yoghurt, sporks (a spoon/fork hybrid) and straws from snack pots and drinks cartons. It will also stop using the 200 million wrappers used to pack clothing and greetings cards.
Tesco's crack down on non-recyclable materials
Tesco met with 1,500 suppliers in August to let them know that packaging will form a key part of its decision-making process to determine which products it sells, and that it reserved the right to no longer stock items that use excessive or hard-to-recycle materials.
The supermarket is also looking at new ways to reuse its packaging, stating that "if packaging can't be recycled, it will have no place at Tesco".
Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said: "By focusing on solutions that we can apply across all our UK stores and supply chain, we can make a significant difference and achieve real scale in our efforts to tackle plastic."
WWF UK's sustainable materials specialist Paula Chin said: "Plastic pollution is the most visible symptom of the environmental crisis we're currently facing.
"Businesses, governments and households have all got an important part to play, so it's good to see Tesco's commitment to significantly reduce the amount of plastic we use."
The announcement is the latest by retailers undergoing large-scale targeting of packaging waste.
What are other supermarkets doing?
Tesco is not the only supermarket with sustainability goals. In September, Sainsbury's pledged to halve the amount of plastic used in its stores by 2025.
According to the BBC , Asda are trying to introduce refillable cleaning products in stores, and Aldi aim to have 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
