ALDI is using Scottish stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and vegetables as part of the brand's efforts to cut out single-use plastics from its products.

From the end of November, all 90 of its shops in Scotland will offer the new type of bags as a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic.

The drawstring bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and will be sold for 25p each.

This is Britain’s fifth largest supermarket’s latest step to reduce unnecessary plastic as it works towards reducing plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2023.

If introduced across the whole of the UK, the initiative will remove the equivalent of 113 tonnes of single-use plastic from circulation each year.

Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi, said: “We are committed to cutting the amount of plastic that Aldi and our customers use, particularly excess or single-use plastic like produce bags.

“We are hopeful that our customers in Scotland will embrace these new reusable produce bags whenever they are buying loose fruit and veg and, together, we will be able to take more than 100

tonnes of plastic a year out of circulation.”

Shoppers can also opt out of buying a new bag by bringing one themselves.

Earlier this year, Aldi trialled selling cabbages and cauliflowers without any plastic packaging in all Scottish stores. Other brands have taken similar measures, including Tesco, which pledged to remove one billion pieces of plastics from its product line.

Aldi is on track to have all own-label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022.

Since 2018, it has removed more than 550 tonnes of plastic and replaced almost 3000 tonnes of unrecyclable material with recyclable alternatives.

The supermarket was recently crowned Scottish Sourcing Business of the Year at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, recognised for its strong relationships with over 90 local suppliers and commitment to increasing its range of Scottish products from 400 to over 450 by the end of 2020.