We recently relaunched our refill zones, refocusing on core products such as cereals, tea, coffee and pet food, and establishing ‘The Refill Price Promise’ which means that our refill ranges will always be cheaper than pre-packed (even if they go on promotion).
Cross industry collaboration - Case study
To explore user experience of the refill zone, in 2022, we partnered with Unilever and WRAP¹ to conduct in-depth customer research² to revisit ways to make the refill experience easier and more enjoyable. Our research highlighted the need to focus on three main areas: To combat uncertainty and apprehension of using refill. Help customers understand the price difference and value of shopping refill. Make the experience fun and enjoyable.
¹WRAP is a climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis.
²Asda, Unilever and WRAP. Refuse and Refill: Behaviour Change Interventions to increase citizen participation in reuse and refill systems. 2022. The project was funded by UK Research Innovation with the ambition of sharing learnings not only with Asda but also with other retailers or brand owners to help grow refill across the industry.
World Refill Day
We support World Refill Day which is a global day of action to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste by refilling and reusing more.
Operationally it’s hard to be sustainable AND low-cost, but that’s what our customers expect from a responsible retailer. That’s why we are so proud of our Refill Price Promise which guarantees those loose products bought from our refill zones are always cheaper than their pre-packed equivalent.
In 2023, to celebrate World Refill Day, we offered customers 50p in their Asda Rewards Cashpots for every £5 worth of loose products purchased from the refill zones in these four stores whilst also reminding our colleagues to help swap their bad habits for good, by promoting a switch to reusable lunches and drinks containers.
We want to get people talking about Refill and Reuse and we hope making these small changes can deliver a big impact.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
What to expect at our refill stores
Reduce
Reduce
We think the best way to reduce the impact of packaging on our environment is to reduce the amount of packaging in the first place. Some of it we need for shelf life, or product safety, but where we’ve found it to be unnecessary, we have used less of it or simply removed it.
Fill 'em up!'
You'll find a range of cupboard and bathroom items such as rice, pasta, tea, coffee, cereal, squash, shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, laundry detergent and shower gel!
Being green that’s our bag
You’ll notice we have introduced reusable bags for weighing fruit and veg, and improved our scales. It’s the same great value, fresh fruit and veg but without single-use plastic.
Drop and Shop
Through our partnership with The Salvation Army, we’ve provided customers at our Middleton store with a dedicated ‘drop and shop’ donation point for their unwanted items which is raising vital funds for The Salvation Army and our Tickled Pink breast cancer charity campaign.
Plastic free party
We have a range of party items such as plates, cutlery, decorations and tableware without any of the plastic.
Bloomin’ marvellous!
Pick up your flowers in-store now as nature intended by asking our florists to make a bespoke bouquet for you in plastic, paper or no wrapping. The paper wrapper is fully recyclable. Also, where possible, we have removed plastic sleeves from our house plants and herb plants.
Recycled threads instead
Our amazing 180 Middleton store colleagues are helping us trial new colleague uniforms made from 100% recycled material. They will feedback how they were to wear and wash, and if they’re working out well, we will quickly roll these out as standard. That’s to all 140,000 colleagues across 650 stores!
Reuse
Reuse
Reusing our plastic is a great way to reduce reliance on single use plastic. Reusing plastic helps reduce carbon footprints, reduces the amount of litter produced, and promotes a circular economy for plastics.
Your Refill Zone
You’ll find a dedicated refill zone in Middleton, York, Toryglen and Milton Keynes offering a new shopping experience. Customers are encouraged to bring in their own containers for dry products, and for wet products we offer bespoke refillable solutions.
Working with well-known brands
We now offer 75 own brand and big brand products, including Mars pet food, Napolina pasta, Vimto, Yorkshire Tea and Taylors of Harrogate Coffee. We also offer prefill returns for Alberto Balsam, Persil, Radox, Simple, while feature bays include Brita, Soda Stream, P&G, Cif Eco and Ocean Saver.
Contain yourself…
We have a range of reusable containers on sale to make sure you can get what you need, when you need it, in a sustainable way.
Free water? How refreshing
Thirsty while you shop? In our Middleton Refill store just help yourself and fill up your own reusable bottle with still water (also available in York and Milton Keynes stores from early next year). Haven’t brought one? Pick one up in-store. We sell a range alongside to choose from.
Bags more sense
Jute bags, freezer bags, bottle bags, or large shoppers. No matter what you use a bag for in store normally, we have a solution for you. We sell a reusable fruit and veg – you can find these in the produce fixture. So whatever you need, you know they make bags more sense.
Recycle
From creating a circular plastics economy and decreasing resource usage, to cutting production costs and preserving natural resources for future generations—it’s easy to see why recycling is fundamental to reducing our impact on our environment.
The Recycling Hub – doing more to use less
Outside our Middleton store, Leeds we have our very popular Recycling Hubs.
Plastic Films & Bags
Recycle stretch plastic film and carrier bags here. Such as clean bread bags, frozen chip bags and cereal bag liners. You can expect a much broader range of recycling options to help you recycle your waste and create a circular plastic economy! After all, clothing hangers are so last year!
Clear Plastic Fruit and Veg Trays
Recycle clean plastic fruit and vegetable trays and punnets here.
Crisp Packets
Recycle your empty crisp packets here.
Biscuit Wrappers
Recycle your empty flexible biscuit packaging here. No cardboard.
Small Plastic Toys
Recycle small plastic toys here. These will be donated to the Salvation Army.
Clothing Hangers
Recycle your plastic clothes hangers here.
Toothpaste Tubes and Toothbrushes
Recycle your empty toothpaste tubes and plastic toothbrushes here. No electric toothbrushes.
Plastic Cosmetic and Skin Care Containers
Recycle your empty plastic cosmetic and skin carecontainers here. No Glass. No aerosols.
Cardboard
Recycle clean dry cardboard here.
Water Filters
Recycle your used water filters here. All brands accepted.
Print Cartridges
Recycle your empty print cartridges here. All types accepted.
Batteriers
Recycle your domestic batteries here. All sizes from 1.5V to 9V.
Small Electrical Items
Recycle small electrical appliances here. No laptops.
Fancy a Visit?
Feeling inspired and fancy popping down to one of our Refill Zones to see what all the fuss is about for yourself?
What you need to bring
Planning your visit? Make sure you bring your re-usable containers and bags. Don’t have any? Just pick up some in store. And in the meantime, start saving your empty crisp packets, biscuit wrappers, batteries and other clean soft plastics to bring back to any of our large stores.
Your new Community Zone – Let’s all be greener together
The Community Zone is a creative space for all our customers to help educate and inspire by inviting groups such as The Salvation Army, Tickled Pink, Plastic Investigators Club – an educational primary school programme. It is your new flexible space for learning about sustainability!
Sustainability
The global food industry is estimated to account for about one quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions which lead to rising temperatures. Asda are committed to doing our part and we are taking actions across many areas of our business such as energy and fuel use, sustainable sourcing and keeping waste out of landfill. We simply can’t deliver our purpose to save customers money so that they can live better if our planet isn’t nurtured for the long run.
