UK retailer Sainsbury’s has just started selling milk in ‘super strong’ plastic bags, which are designed to fit into a reusable jug. The company will be giving away over half a million jugs to its customers in April.
The bags are made from very strong low density polyethylene, have their introduction follows 18 months of trials. The reusable jug – called the Jugit – contains a spike that pierces the bag, forms a no-leak seal, and delivers milk through the spout.
Compared with an equivalent two pint plastic bottle, milk in a bag will cost 6p less, because it uses 75% less packaging and is cheaper to produce. Switching to the new bags could save up to 1,400,000kg of packaging every year, claims Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s spokeswoman Emma Metcalf King said: “This is the biggest change to occur to the nation’s shopping habits for at least a decade.”
The familiar plastic screw-top bottle will continue to be available in stores.
Milk sold in bags is already a regular choice for 60% of consumers in Canada, Poland, South Africa and China.
