Sainsbury's Tu Clothing swaps plastic babywear hangers for cardboard

Sainsbury’s has unveiled a new eco-friendly approach within its Tu Clothing Baby range by introducing cardboard hangers, replacing five million plastic hangers and effectively conserving 103 tonnes of plastic.

This innovative shift, a 'UK supermarket first', comes after a successful trial and will be accessible in over 400 stores. The transformation is applied to Tu Clothing Babywear items that were previously displayed on plastic hangers. An added advantage is that customers can easily recycle the cardboard hangers at home, significantly contributing to their efforts to reduce environmental impact.

As part of its commitment to a circular packaging model, Sainsbury’s offers an in-store recycling option for Tu Clothing plastic hangers. Shoppers and staff can conveniently deposit plastic hangers during checkout, facilitating their return for recycling. The initiative has already yielded impressive results, with 12 million hangers collected between January and July this year alone, effectively diverting 85 tonnes of plastic from waste.

Sainsbury’s overarching commitment to sustainability extends beyond hangers. Recent months have witnessed meaningful changes, including being the first UK retailer to transition laundry detergent packaging from plastic to cardboard. Moreover, Sainsbury’s took the bold step of eliminating single-use plastic trays from its by Sainsbury’s whole chicken range in May. These impactful measures alone contribute to an annual saving of approximately 162 tonnes of plastic, reinforcing Sainsbury’s pivotal role in driving sustainable retail practices.