Tesco is joining forces with sustainable resource management company Veolia to use plastic from its in-store recycling points to introduce greener areas in schools.
Now in its second year, the Veolia Orchard campaign will be donating almost 600 fruit trees and 800 strawberry plants to schools without green areas to help children learn more about the environment.
To house the plants, Tesco – which recently launched toy recycling points in-store – will be donating planters made from recycled soft plastic, collected in-store to help customers recycle plastic which cannot typically be collected through kerbside collections.
The materials used to make each planter will include bread bags, carrier bags and pasta packets taken from Tesco’s in-store drop off points, and will help recycle around 7.3 tonnes of materials.
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Tesco’s packaging campaigns manager Courtney Pallett said the supermarket’s in-store recycling points help make soft plastics “even easier for our customers to recycle”.
“We’re delighted to be working with Veolia to turn the plastic waste we collect into something new – keeping it out of the environment and helping create greener learning spaces for children in our local communities.”
Veolia Orchard is part of Veolia’s Sustainable Schools programme, which aims to educate children and young adults on the importance of protecting the planet and the environment. The scheme has expanded to a further 190 schools this year, across 22 local authorities.
Veolia’s managing director of municipal, Pascal Hauret, said: “Improving air quality around schools, engaging pupils on the power of plants and finding innovative recycling solutions which contribute the greatest benefit to the communities we serve is all part of our purpose to deliver ecological transformation.
“We are delighted at how popular the campaign is with schools and are thrilled to be supporting nearly double the amount we did in 2022.”
