SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
UK-based food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer have been working to improve the environmetal sustainability of the company for over a decade. In their latest step to become more eco-friendly, they're getting rid of the little stickers on their fresh produce. As of this week, their avocados will have relevant information (product code, county of origin, best-before date) etched into the skin by a laser.
M&S expect to save 10 tones of paper and 5 tonnes of glue a year by tattooing their avocados in this way. Stickers don't stick well to avocado skins in the first place, so this solves a practical problem as well as reducing sticker waste.
Apparently barcodes couldn't be read reliably on an avocado, due to the uneven reflective surface of the avocado skin, but it may be practical for other produce in the future.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 20 2017, @08:22AM (1 child)
The clue was in the headline that you complained about - notice the mention of swapping labels for lasers?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @10:30AM
When I had my first job (in a grocery store), actual prices were put on items.
That was typically done with stamps that used ink.
Years later, there were "price guns" that made paper labels that were stuck on items.
I go to a discount store that still does this for all items.
Years after that, came barcodes and price scanners that use lasers.
So, no. Putting "lasers" and "labels" in the headline did not make it clear for me and using "produce" instead of "food" would have helped.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]