Waitrose to ban glitter by 2020 over environmental concerns

Waitrose has become the first major retailer to say it will ban glitter from all its products amid a backlash over environmental concerns.  

The supermarket has announced plans to phase out glitter in all its single-use products, including labels, cards, flowers and plants by Christmas 2020. 

It comes amid fears that microplastics, including glitter, are polluting the world's oceans and being eaten by fish, and eventually ending up being ingested by humans. 

Glitter's popularity has also been hurt by the public's raised awareness of the fact that it also makes products it is attached to non-recyclable.

In October retailers including Paperchase, Next, Debenhams, John Lewis, M&S and Sainsbury's told the Sunday Telegraph they had made a conscious effort to reduce glitter in Christmas items this year, citing environmental concerns.   

Glitter is made up of tiny pieces of plastic which do not break down and when washed off can end up in the sewage system, as well as rivers and seas.  They can be eaten by fish and eventually end up in the food chain, being consumed by humans. 

Tor Harris, head of health & agriculture for Waitrose & Partners, said:  “Reducing the impact of plastics on the environment is something our customers care passionately about. 

"While it’s important to eliminate the use of glitter, we’ll find other ways to make sure our products sparkle at Christmas and throughout the year.”

It added that three quarters of its Christmas products this year were already glitter free. 

David Bolton, retail products policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium said: “Retailers recognise how important it is to their customers to tackle plastic pollution, removing it where possible and ensuring all packaging is recyclable.

“Retailers have already moved to remove glitter from rinse-off cosmetic products long before they were required to by legislation as the plastic goes directly into water and the industry is reviewing how best to make other products that contain glitter as environmentally-friendly as possible.”