Grocery stores in the UK have teamed up with supply-chain wizards CHEP and refill company Unpacked to reduce plastic waste across the country. Waitrose, Ocado, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer are all members of the newly formed 'Refill Coalition', and have committed to rolling out refill stations across their stores by the end of this year.

The first refill stations will offer plastic-free options for dry goods — pasta, cereals, seeds, grains, nuts, dried fruit — and refills for household and personal care items including dishwashing liquid, laundry liquid, shampoo, hand wash.

"Working together to create a universal system gives us the best chance of scaling refills so they become accessible to every shopper in the UK, as we know consumers want less single-use plastic packaging on the items they buy," Unpackaged founder Catherine Conway told The Guardian.

"An industry-wide approach will lead to a refill system that works for everyone in the supply chain and will make refilling easier for shoppers."

Refills not only reduce the impact of single-use plastic packaging, they also save customers money. Research conducted by UK consumer group Which? found items offered through the refill scheme were 10-15 per cent cheaper on average when loose.

Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have already begun trailing refillable stations in a handful of store locations.

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