A major British supermarket will hand out food for free in a bid to reduce food waste and hit net zero goals.
Tesco plans to give away food which is about to go out of date at absolutely no cost.
The cost-slashing yellow sticker will be revolutionised and mean the item is completely free after 9.30pm.
Potentially thousands of tonnes of food could avoid the bin and go home with customers.
The plan will first be trailed in a small number of Express stores across the country.
At present, Tesco’s yellow label system reduces the cost of food items by 90%.
The supermarket also gives unsold food to charities in order to reduce the amount of produce they have to throw away, which they will continue to do under the new scheme.
Despite these schemes, Tesco reported more than 35,000 tonnes of food waste in the UK last year.
But now staff will get priority on food which have been reduced earlier in the day and then customers will be able to take home almost out-of-date items in the run-up to closing time.
An internal memo said the plan would allow Tesco to ‘continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations’, The Telegraph reports.
Tesco has pledged to be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2035 and net zero by 2050
The supermarket chain has already cut food waste by 18% between 2017 and 2023, with its long term goal being a 45% reduction.
The store has already redistributed 166 million meals through their Community Food Connection Scheme, according to their 2024 food waste report.
A spokesman for the supermarket said: ‘We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste.
‘This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.’
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