England's Tesco plc supermarket chain is introducing egg cartons made from recycled PET bottles in a bid to reduce the number of broken eggs and halt pack damage.
The retail giant currently sells its free range eggs in pulp cartons, but if an egg breaks in transit it can seep through the box and damage other packs beneath it.
The plastic alternative — tested in nearly 200 stores — proved to cut waste, said Tesco in a statement.
The retailer's packaging technologist, Lee Gray, said: "We know that plastic packs reduce food waste — now we have a pack that will reduce food waste and offer customers a more environmentally friendly packaging solution.
"If used across all our free range egg [sales] then it will save, on average, more than one million eggs each year that would otherwise be going to waste.
"The results of the trial are very positive and we hope to be able to roll out the packaging by the end of the year."
Other benefits are that the new cartons will take up less space during transportation as well as less shelf space in store and will also cut Tesco's CO2 emissions.