Selfridges bans all single-use plastic bottles in its fight against plastic waste

Selfridges is ramping up its stance against plastic by banning all sales of single-use plastic bottles for fizzy drinks from its stores. The move comes nearly three years after Selfrigdes stopped selling disposable plastic water bottles in all its stores and restaurants as part of its Project Ocean partnership with international conservation charity The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Marine CoLABoration (MRC).

The iconic department store group aims reduce plastic waste while encouraging their customers to end their use of throwaway plastic and swap to more eco-friendly alternatives such as aluminium cans and glass. "Our customers expect us to be responsible and our values underpin this requirement. We are seeing a huge shift in people’s attitudes to single-use plastic water bottles, and now, carbonated drinks," said Alannah Weston, Selfridges Group deputy chairman in a statement.

Selfridges' Project Ocean campaign sees the department store remove all single use plastic carbonated drinks from its stores

The initiative, which is driven by the prediction that the world's ocean could contain one kilogram of plastic for every three kilograms of fish by 2025, focuses on building momentum and awareness concerning plastic waste. "As a city, We still have a long way to go but we can encourage environmentally conscious behaviour from individuals, to manufacturers, and retailers," added Weston. "At Selfridges we want to continue to support that change and give our customers the choice to buy better."

Selfridges also hopes the expansion of its plastic ban, which takes effect this week, will help stop the sale of the equivalent of six tonnes of plastic and encourage other companies to take a similar stance against throwaway plastic by removing plastic bottles from their retail outlets and offices. "One of the world's best-known retailers is sending a clear message to major drinks manufacturers that they need to reduce their use of plastic bottles," added Greenpeace UK's executive director John Sauven.

"Selfridges has been highlighting marine conservation issues for nearly a decade. It is continuing to confront the crisis in our oceans by dealing with the problem of plastics at its source – banning the single-use plastic drinks bottles produced by carbonated soft drinks companies....Hopefully, Selfridges’ bold move will make soft drink giants have a rethink about their reliance on single-use plastic bottles."

The plastic ban follows on from Selfridges recent decision to upcycle all its used coffee cups in its stores and headquarters into its yellow shopping bags. As part of its Project Ocean initiative, Selfridges is supporting the #OneLess campaign to encourage communities and cites to go plastic water bottle free. UK adults purchase 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles each year - 150 per person, but only 50 percent of plastic drink bottles in household waste streams are collected for recycling.

Photos: Courtesy of Selfridges