They are Britain’s most pernicious plastic but the black trays from which the nation consumes up to 1.5bn ready meals a year may at last be recycled rather than being sent to landfill.
The trays are black to stop buyers seeing “wet foods” slopping around — but the black pigment makes them undetectable in waste centres, so most go to landfill, taking centuries to degrade.
Supermarkets have known for years that the problem can be fixed by adding a new pigment, but said the 0.5p cost per tray was too high.
This week, however, after growing pressure from environmental groups and regulators, three of Britain’s biggest retailers will announce a new system allowing black plastic trays to be reused repeatedly. “Just like plates,” said Marks