Sainsbury’s has announced a plan to reduce the amount of plastic packaging used at the supermarket by 50 per cent in the next six years.

The supermarket says it is the first major retailer to make such a commitment.

The target applies to all branded food packaging at Sainsbury’s.

The supermarket currently uses approximately 120,000 tons of plastic packaging on an annual basis, with plastic milk bottles proving to be one of the largest sources.

Measures being introduced by Sainsbury’s in order to achieve its aim include switching to alternative materials, using lighter-weight plastics and offering refillable packaging to customers.

In addition to plastic milk bottles, other products at Sainsbury’s which use the most plastic packaging include fruit and vegetables, fizzy drinks, water and fruit juices.

Mike Coupe, chief executive at Sainsbury’s, said that the retailer has set itself a “bold ambition” because it understands that “we urgently need to reduce our impact on the planet and to help drive change across our industry”.

“Reducing plastic and packaging is not easy,” Mr Coupe said.

“Packaging plays a vital role in keeping our food safe and fresh and minimising food waste. We must therefore find alternatives to plastic that protect the quality of our food while minimising our impact on the environment.”

Coupe added that Sainsbury’s is asking its suppliers and customers to work with the company to “help us make this important change”.

Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A father and son on a makeshift boat made from styrofoam paddle through a garbage filled river as they collect plastic bottles that they can sell in junkshops in Manila. The father and son team earn some three US dollars a day retrieving recyclables from the river. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A composite image of items found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in Rainham, Kent. Tons of plastic and other waste lines areas along the Thames Estuary shoreline, an important feeding ground for wading birds and other marine wildlife. Getty Images Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children collect plastic water bottles among the garbage washed ashore at the Manila Bay. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, at current rates of pollution, there will likely be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastics and other detritus line the shore of the Thames Estuary. In December 2017 Britain joined the other 193 UN countries and signed up to a resolution to help eliminate marine litter and microplastics in the sea. It is estimated that about eight million metric tons of plastic find their way into the world's oceans every year. Once in the Ocean plastic can take hundreds of years to degrade, all the while breaking down into smaller and smaller 'microplastics,' which can be consumed by marine animals, and find their way into the human food chain. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A dump site in Manila in 2013. The Philippines financial capital banned disposable plastic shopping bags and styrofoam food containers, as part of escalating efforts across the nation's capital to curb rubbish that exacerbates deadly flooding. AFP/Getty Images Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children swims in the sea full of garbage in North Jakarta, Indonesia. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures An Indian woman holds a jar filled with Yamuna river water polluted with froth and toxic foam to be used for rituals at the river bank in New Delhi, India. The Yamuna River, like all other holy rivers in India, has been massively polluted for decades now. The river that originates in a glacier in the pristine and unpolluted Himalayas, and flows through Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh before merging with the Ganges River in Allahabad, once used to be the lifeline of the Indian capital. Currently, it is no more than a large, open sewer that is choking with industrial and domestic discharge that includes plastic, flowers and debris and has virtually no aquatic life. EPA Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastic waste is washed up on South Troon beach in Scotland. Recent reports by scientists have confirmed, plastics dumped in the world oceans are reaching a dangerous level with micro plastic particles now being found inside filter feeding animals and amongst sand grains on our beaches. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children collect plastic to be sold and recycled, in a polluted river in suburban Manila. The city's trash disposal agency traps solid waste floating down waterways that was thrown into the water by residents of slums along riverbanks upstream. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures View of the Carpayo Beach in La Punta, Callao, some 15 km of Lima. In 2013, the NGO VIDA labeled the Carpayo Beach as the most polluted in the country - 40 tons of trash on each 500m2. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Trash from Kamilo Beach in Hawaii. Gabriella Levine/Flickr Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A scavenger collects plastic cups for recycling in a river covered with rubbish near Pluit dam in Jakarta. Reuters Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Rubbish fills Omoa beach in Honduras. Floating masses of garbage offshore from some of the Caribbean's pristine beaches are testimony to a vast and growing problem of plastic pollution heedlessly dumped in our oceans, locals, activists and experts say. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A man climbs down to a garbage filled river in Manila. Plastic rubbish will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050 unless the world takes drastic action to recycle the material, a report warned in 2016. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Garbage on East Beach, Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands), in the south Pacific Ocean. The uninhabited island has been found to have the world's highest density of waste plastic, with more than 3,500 additional pieces of litter washing ashore daily at just one of its beaches. EPA

Theresa Villiers, the environment secretary, praised Sainsbury’s for its “efforts to introduce new industry-wide standards” and for “ensuring that our environment is protected for future generations”.

“This is a brilliant example of the integral role business has to play in cutting plastic waste, empowering consumers to make more sustainable choices,” Ms Villiers said.

Today, Sainsbury’s is co-hosting a summit with the Natural Environment Research Council, which involves the gathering of branded suppliers, researchers and government stakeholders.

Those in attendance at the summit will discuss how they can “identify potential breakthrough innovation projects” with regards to the reduction of plastic waste.

The supermarket has launched a new area on its website – www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/helpreduceplastic – where customers, staff members, manufacturers and entrepreneurs can put forward ideas to help reduce plastic waste.

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The retailer will report publicly on the progression of its plastic packaging reduction plan every six months.

The supermarket has already made several commitments to reduce the use of plastic within its stores, including removing lightweight loose produce bags by this month; the removal of micro beads from its own brand products in 2013; replacing the plastic film on fruit and vegetables with a recyclable alternative by the end of 2020 and the promise to provide customers with fresh water stands in 326 of its cafes across the country, where they can refill their own water bottles.

In June, Sainsbury’s unveiled the UK’s first meat-free butchery as part of a three-day pop up in Bethnal Green, London.

The products on offer at the eatery – including “meaty” cuts, joints and strings of sausages – were made from ingredients including mushrooms, jackfruit and pea protein.