Edinburgh business to become first in the UK to ban plastic use

An Edinburgh business is banning all plastic use as of January 2021, becoming the first in the UK to do so.

The Leith Collective, a shop used by over 130 artists to sell their handmade products, is located in Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre and is committing to the new no-plastic policy to help the environment.

The Leith Collective will be the first business in the UK to ban all plastic use

Owner Sara Thompson said she’d love to see other businesses following suit, but acknowledges that it will be challenging. “I don’t think that many will be able to commit to it,” she said.

“It’s a very hard thing to do. Take sellotape, barcodes, and labels, for example. They all contain plastic; you have to change everything. It’s a minefield when you get into it.”

The Leith Collective will be the first in the UK to completely ban the material.

Plastic really is everywhere and when working in retail it’s not just what’s in the shop that you have to think about. The most complicated part is packaging. “I have had to educate over 100 suppliers on how to change their packaging,” Thompson said, “to look for alternatives and other ways to approach it.

“It’s not easy. Finding alternative biodegradable alternatives are often more expensive so many people are put off.”

This is not a new ethos for The Leith Collective. The shop has been showcasing more than one hundred artists work from across Scotland all focussing on reuse, reclaim, and recycle, working on rejuvenating items that would have ended up in landfill.

The Leith Collective are open from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday, and have an online shop too.