News

A shop that wants to refocus the packaging debate towards reuse opened its doors in London yesterday (8 November).

Unpackaged, which has spent the past 12 months distributing dry goods to the capital's markets, encourages customers to bring their own containers to be refilled with products.

It also charges 50p for shopping bags if customers do not bring their own.

Founder Catherine Conway said it was important to refine the business model to help the large number of people who wanted to "do the right thing" about the environment.

"We're not anti-packaging and recognise that it plays an important role in combating food waste. But for most of our products, like detergents, there's no need for disposable packaging," she said.

Unpackaged also sells organic fruit and vegetables, which are delivered in suppliers' original packaging – often in durable plastic sacks – that the shop can recycle itself.

Once inside the shop, the products are transferred to airtight plastic containers to help maintain quality and freshness.