John Lewis has pledged £1m to tackle the ‘throwaway’ culture in the retail sector.
The employee-owned company is calling on academics, charities and small businesses to come up with ideas to help reduce waste and pollution in food, textiles and household products.
It will provide grants between £150,000 and £300,000 for the most innovative ideas to challenge the industry’s outdated ‘make/use/throw away’ model. John Lewis raised the fund through the sale of 10 pence plastic bags over a two-year period.
Marija Rompani of John Lewis said: “We live in a world of finite materials and we need to start protecting them before it’s too late.
“That’s why we are particularly looking for regenerative projects that can eliminate waste or pollution by design and ultimately protect nature.”
John Lewis works with Hubbub, a charity and social enterprise focused on sustainability.
The retailer said phasing out single-use bags altogether would potentially reduce the availability of revenue for similar funds in the future, “but we will always look for ways to support innovation.”
In May, John Lewis stores in Cheltenham, Kingston and Leeds began testing the removal of single-use plastic bags.
In 2019, he launched a similar £1million fund to reduce plastic waste and selected five winners from around 150 applications.
They included a project that used mussels to help stem the flow of microplastics from polluted estuaries and coastal waters.
All findings from John Lewis’ Circular Future Fund will be shared with industry.
