A new way of winding toilet paper more tightly onto cardboard tubes is helping Tesco reduce the size of its large multipacks – without changing the number of sheets, the supermarket giant announced yesterday. The retailer has replaced 24-roll packs of toilet rolls with new 12 packs of ‘double rolls’ that have twice the number of sheets wound on to them.
The new rolls also mean that Tesco needs fewer lorries to transport toilet paper.
In total, Tesco will save 67 tonnes of plastic packaging each year as a result of either fitting more paper onto each roll or winding rolls more tightly.
The reduction in size will mean 17 fewer lorries are needed each week to transport the rolls from the supplier to Tesco’s distribution centres. Those lorries will be redeployed to deliver other products to stores as they get busier in the run-up to Christmas.
In December, Tesco also started shrinking rolls in its 4 and 9-roll packs by winding the paper more tightly. This second change will save 14 tonnes of plastic a year and allow eight lorries to be redeployed.