Shoppers in Gloucester will now be able to recycle cling film, crisp packets and salad bags at their local Tesco store as the supermarket rolls out the biggest network of soft plastic collection points in the UK.

Tesco is putting the collection points at all of its Extra and Superstores across the South West, with the Gloucester Churchdown Superstore being a key part of the network.

This will be the first time that the UK has had a network of collection points of this size dedicated to the collection of soft plastic. Most councils don't collect soft plastic from homes for recycling and it therefore often goes to landfill.

Stuart Whelan, manager at the Gloucester Churchdown Superstore, said: "We know that a lot of our customers want to reduce their plastic packaging waste so we are expecting the new soft plastics recycling point to prove popular. It will be a really visible sign in store of what we are doing to reduce the impact of plastic packaging."

The collection points will enable customers to return all their previously unrecycled soft plastic, regardless of where they bought it, including cling film, pet food pouches and crisp packets to recycling points at their nearest Extra and Superstores store, rather than having to throw it away.

Once collected, the old soft plastic is sent for recycling where it is washed, sorted and processed before being turned in to new packaging. It will be used to pack items such as food, household and beauty products.

Paula Chin, WWF sustainable materials specialist, added: "Plastic pollution is one of the most visible symptoms of the environmental crisis and is devastating our natural world.

"Businesses, governments and households have all got an important part to play in tackling the issue, so it's encouraging to see Tesco extending their successful soft plastics collection trial across more of their stores, giving their customers even more opportunity to recycle these valuable materials."