Tesco Ireland has teamed up with manufacturing firm Paltech to develop a new flower pot made entirely of recycled plastics.
The slate-grey flower planters, on sale in Tesco stores for €25, are made from waste plastic packaging, a major source of waste in the retail sector.
The innovation is the result of Tesco’s partnership with Paltech, a sister company of Tesco’s food waste partner, Green Generation.
The Kildare company recently commissioned a new €2 million facility in Clara, Co Offaly to manufacture recycled plastic products, including flowerpots. The facility, which employs 15 people, will recycle an estimated 70 tonnes of customer waste plastic to create 10,000 plant pots over the coming months.
"When it comes to plastic, our priority remains to remove where we can, or reduce its use on our products when we can't remove it completely," said Joe Manning, Tesco Ireland's commercial director.
“Where it serves a purpose, such as protecting a product or preventing food waste, we are working hard to ensure that the packaging material is recyclable for consumers and can go on to be used again,” he said.
“Bringing these flowerpots to the market, made entirely from end-of-life waste soft plastic, is an important step in creating a closed loop solution for plastic at this time,” he said.
Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett said: “This is a good example of the circular economy in action. I welcome the investment in Clara and the new jobs it brings.”
