Tesco is set to become the UK's first supermarket chain to stop selling and producing plastic wet wipes in a bid to reduce their impact on the environment.
With sales of around 75 million packs a year, the British supermarket is one of the UK's largest suppliers of the products that contains non recyclable plastics.
The supermarket has confirmed it will stop the production on the wipes from next month, which is around two years after they banned the use of plastic bags and microplastics.
It comes after Holland and Barratt made a similar decision and became the first high-street retailer to stop selling wet wipe products from all 800 stores across the UK back in 2019.
Environmentalists have long called for the ban on the products, as they damage marine life and cause sewer blockages after being flushed down the toilet from consumers.
A Tesco spokeswoman told The Times : “There is no need for wet wipes to contain plastic so from now on we will no longer stock them if they do.”
Tesco has said that they will only continue to stock plastic-free wipes and those made by eco-friendly brands including Waterwipes and Rascal + Friends, reports The Mirror.
They have also confirmed that they will be aiming to have their pet wipes to plastic free by around the end of 2022.
Other supermarkets who have confirmed they sell plastic-free own branded wet wipes are Waitrose and Sainsbury's.
Supermarkets and retailers have been under pressure from campaigners to do more to reduce the amount of plastic and switch to eco-friendly products to help the environment.
Friends of the Earth said the wipes contributed to “the tide of plastic waste that pours into our environment every year, threatening wildlife and blighting our neighbourhoods”.
Tesco's decision to ban the products is their latest move in a bid to become a more environmentally friendly business, following the launch of their 4 R's strategy, where it aims to remove plastic where it can, reduce where it can't, reuse more and recycle what's left.
The supermarket has said that their strategy has managed to remove more than 500 million more pieces of unnecessary plastic in the last 12 months.
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