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British frozen food retailer Iceland has introduced a plastic-free packaging for its pre-packed bananas in three of its stores on a pilot basis as part of its ongoing fight against plastic pollution.

The new packaging is made from recycled paper and will replace the retailer’s plastic packaging for bananas.

The move is expected to eliminate ten million plastic bags per annum.

Iceland will roll out the new recyclable packaging to an additional 120 stores in the coming days, before launching it across all of the UK stores by the end of the year.

Iceland managing director Richard Walker said: “Since making our commitment to remove plastic from our own label packaging, we have been working hard behind the scenes to find plastic-free alternatives.“This move alone will have a significant impact on our plastics consumption and is one of the first of many solutions that are in development.”

“People have become so used to buying their products wrapped in plastic, or indeed using plastic bags for loose produce, and this has to stop if we are to turn down the tap on plastics. We’re creating impetus for that change in consumer habits through the use of innovative solutions.”

“This move alone will have a significant impact on our plastics consumption and is one of the first of many solutions that are in development.”

The retailer is targeting the elimination of plastic from all of its own-label packagings by 2023.

Each year, a total of 420 million packs of bananas are sold in the UK and the company has urged other retailers to follow its lead in order to reduce plastic consumption.

Furthermore, the retailer is also trialling paper and reusable post-consumer waste plastic bags in a bid to remove disposal carrier bags.