Supermarket Asda is asking shoppers to help it identify over-packaged goods.

In a radical move, it is inviting customers at two busy stores to bring back examples of over-packaging so that it can put pressure on suppliers to reduce waste.

The results may bring the supermarket into direct conflict with some of the biggest brands in the country.

If the trial study is successful, the shopper-led programme, called “Leave It with Us”, may be extended to every Asda store across the UK.

Sun screen lotions containing butch, ultra-masculine scents are being developed by supermarket Asda for the very first time.

It is supplementing its traditional “girly” perfumed lotions with a range containing more manly smells, such as liniment, musk ….and beer.

The move follows research revealing that up to 28 per cent of young men refuse to wear existing sun creams because they regard their delicate scents as effeminate.

ASDA has become the first retailer in Scotland to launch ‘Challenge 25’, a new proof of age scheme aimed to further assist and empower colleagues when asking for ID on sales of alcohol.

The launch of this scheme follows alarming results from research which ASDA commissioned within Glasgow and London to find out how much older than their age a 16 year old can actually look.

A group of 16 year olds were taken onto the City streets and shoppers were asked to guess their age. 71% of respondents said the 16 year olds were actually aged 18 years and over and 23% even said they were over 21 years of age.

Today (Monday, 23rd April 2007) ASDA is launching a 10-week scheme to encourage people to reduce their reliance on new carrier bags. As part of this, it is trialling the first ever ‘Bag-free Checkout’. If the trial proves popular, ASDA will consider making it a permanent feature in all stores.

Shoppers are being encouraged either not to use a bag at all or to bring their own bags into stores. Shoppers who do not take a new bag when shopping will be rewarded with ‘green goodies for schools’ vouchers.

Today (Monday, 30th April 2007) ASDA announced a saving of 7 million road miles through its award winning local hub initiative – delivering locally sourced products to ASDA stores across the country via a local distribution network.

The scheme which has launched ten local hubs across the UK in the last five years, will accelerate in 2007 with a further five launching before the end of the year.

Already the local distribution centres have reduced road miles by 5.2 million, as local producers pool their resources in a bid to reduce costs, cut carbon emissions and lower the overall environmental impact of food distribution.

Today’s (4 April 2007) TNS figures (12 week) show that ASDA is outperforming the rest of the retail sector for the first time in three years, with year on year growth of nine percent.

The figures draw a firm line under what ASDA has described as a period of recovery during which it re-evaluated its customer offer and pricing strategy as well as attracting one million new customers through its checkouts.

The figures from TNS indicated that ASDA is clearly in the lead when it comes to growth.