Packaging reduction at Tesco/Boxed water

I have always applauded Tesco for being at the leading edge of environmental initiatives among mainstream grocery stores.

Two days ago, I got wind of their new initiative for customers to leave their packaging waste at the till. It is currently only in trial phase at several stores, but it was a consumer-driven initiative. It may cause them some waste disposal headaches, but overall I see it as a way not only to do the right thing, but also to see, from the waste collected, where they could improve their packaging design. I am also not sure how it will work in terms of non-private label supplier waste, if they will have to subsidize the plan or not. I hope that they publish the results of this trial soon!

Globally, there has been a bit of a kerfuffle raised around bottled water. Of course, water bottles are theoretically recyclable and are made of valuable materials, but I read that something like 75% of bottled water ends up as litter, in landfills, or awfully enough, in the great Pacific garbage patch. This company has come out with Boxed Water. An interesting way to package water, certainly, but it is packaged in a Tetra Pak, which is often difficult to recycle and has limited recycling options globally. It shall be interesting to look at this as time goes on - will customers like water packaged in a non-transparent container? Is it really a better alternative, given that the process of making paper is very harmful? Will TetraPak and carton manufacturers expand recycling facilities so that they are widely available?