The UK’s largest retailer has joined the crackdown on glitter by switching to a plastic-free version for its Christmas range of trees, plants and flowers this year.
With 142 days to go until Christmas, Tesco said shoppers would first notice the difference in its popular fresh trees that will go on sale towards the end of November.
Most glitter is made from etched aluminium bonded to polyethylene terephthalate – a form of microplastic that can find its way into the oceans. As well as being an environmental scourge, the substance can pose a danger to people and animals.
Tesco’s plans to launch an eco-friendly, biodegradable glitter in its Christmas horticulture range follows a wider review, but there is no date yet for removing the conventional product from its own-brand cards, stationery and wrapping paper.
Michelle Buck, Tesco’s product development manager for horticulture, said: “Customers tell us they want us to use less plastic. This is one of the ways we’re trying to help at Christmas.”
A petition launched earlier this year by the campaign group 38 Degrees – attracting support from more than 6,000 signatories – called on the then environment secretary Michael Gove to ban glitter as part of the government’s wider crackdown on single-use plastics. It cited a study showing that up to a third of fish caught in the North Sea contained microplastic particles – including glitter.
David Innes, of 38 Degrees, said: “The news that Tesco is removing glitter from flowers, plants and trees this Christmas is great but it’s extremely disappointing that they are not going a step further by removing it from cards and wrapping paper. Glitter from these products will be around long after the sparkle of this coming Christmas has past. That’s why so many people signed the petition calling for the government to ban plastic glitter.”
Supermarkets are acting amid wider moves in society, with the BBC TV show Strictly Come Dancing banning the use of traditional glitter last year and growing numbers of nursery schools and music festivals also axing it.
In December last year, Waitrose pledged to ban glitter from all own-brand products by 2020. The supermarket chain said its own-label cards, wraps, crackers, tags, flowers and plants will either be glitter-free or use an environmentally friendly alternative.
The discount chain Aldi is scrapping plastic glitter from this year’s Halloween range – meaning no more sparkly fake pumpkins – as well as from this year’s Christmas cards and wrapping paper. The move – in all 825 UK and 130 Ireland stores – is part of a pledge to remove non-biodegradable glitter from all products by the end of 2020, it said.
Retailer Hobbycraft has also launched biodegradable alternatives, including a craft bio-glitter for children’s use, and has recently pledged that its range will be free of plastic glitter by 2021, compared with an earlier target of 2023.
