Hello friends!

The first report on plastic free shops in continental Europe was published at the end of June. It’s based on data collected by 268 shops across 10 countries.

The study - conducted by London consultancy Eunomia on behalf of French package free trade organisation Réseau vrac and the NGO Zero Waste Europe - has identified very strong growth in the sector, with increasing numbers of shops, jobs and sales turnover achieved over the past 5-10 years. 

It also gives an estimate of the amount of packaging avoided by those bulk shops - 1 tonne of packaging per year per shop. Another bonus is that those independent shops source their supplies from closer suppliers compared to traditional shops.

“Yes, bit what about Covid”, I hear you say.

There is no doubt that Covid has generated a lot of single plastic packaging but recent news coming from France - where package free shopping is bouncing back - and anecdotal evidence here in the UK show that the demand for package free products has stayed strong.

Tesco is trialling a scheme in the UK where online shoppers will get products in reusable packaging while online independent retailer Good Club is trialling its zero waste delivery box (see below) after a very successful first year.

There also some positive - albeit anecdotal - signs coming from the independent sector. Patoka, which had a stall in Wembley market since last summer, is soon moving to bigger premises to a yet to be disclosed location in North West London. Also, specialist consultancy Unpackaged latest workshop on how to set up an independent zero waste shop was sold out earlier this month.

Whether package free retail thrives is largely dependent on us.

Every time we spend money, we’re casting a vote for the kind of world we want, to quote American sustainability expert Anna Lappé.

Let’s not waste these many opportunities to turn the tide on plastic.

Best,

Amandine