Morrisons announces it will make its bananas greener in big change to popular item

Morrisons had a successful 12 week trial, removing over two million pre-packed plastic bags

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The supermarket giant Morrisons has been working to become more environmentally friendly over the past year and has announced a new move that should removed over 40 million pre-packed plastic bags.

The Bradford chain has today pledged to become the first supermarket to remove plastic bags from all of the bananas sold in its stores - its second most bought item.

Kicking off today, paper bands will replace the bags that currently package their bananas, which should remove over 180 tonnes of plastic from its stores.

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The paper bands will list the bananas' country of origin, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and Soil Association Certification information, as well as the barcodes.

They're made from FSC certified paper and will be rolled out over six months.

Morrisons is currently looking to attempt to return to traditional grocery packaging methods, becoming the first supermarket to remove all plastic bags.

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It's committing to have zero emission eggs by 2022 as well as lamb, fruit, vegetables, pork and beef before the end of 2025.

Morrisons has also launched a glass milk bottle trial in which bottles of milk are delivered directly to its supermarkets by local dairy farms. Once returned by customers, the bottles are collected, sanitised and can be reused for 10 years or more.

Elio Biondo, Banana Buyer from Morrisons, said: "Bananas have their own packaging - their skins. They also grow in bunches which generally means they don't need bagging together.

"So a simple sturdy paper band is the ideal alternative. In trials the quality of the bananas has remained the same, so this switch out of plastic is a no-brainer."

David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, said of their zero emissions targets: "Climate change is one of the biggest challenges for our generation and growing food is a key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

"As British farming's biggest supermarket customer, we’re in a unique position to guide our farms and help lead changes in environmental practices."

He added it was "an ambitious target – but it's our duty to do it".