In the Netherlands, Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza opened its first totally plastic-free aisle in one of their Amsterdam supermarkets, making it the first in the world to show that it is possible to offer food and grocery items without plastic packaging. The aisle includes over 700 items including chocolate, rice, fresh fruit and vegetables that do not contain any plastic packaging at all, with some items using biodegradable or compostable biomaterial packaging instead. Ekoplaza is planning on adding the plastic-free aisle to 74 of its branches in the Netherlands by the end of 2018.
Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, an organization that partnered with Ekoplaza to launch the plastic-free aisle, told CNBC, “There is absolutely no logic in wrapping something as fleeting as food in something as indestructible as plastic. Plastic food and drink packaging remains useful for a matter of days yet remains a destructive presence on the Earth for centuries afterwards.”