The new packs are in store as of this week, with 10 pasta variants switching from plastic to the new paper packs.

Tesco said the move would remove more than 30 tonnes of plastic packaging a year that had previously been used for the products.

Group sustainability and quality director Claire Lorains commented: “Removing unnecessary plastic is an important way that Tesco can reduce its environmental impact. The new paper packaging works just as well as the old plastic but can be popped into your normal recycling bin with other paper.

“We're proud of the work we’ve done so far to reduce the plastic we use at Tesco but will continue to look for ways to do more.”

The new packs are described as 100% recyclable and can be placed in household recycling.

At the time of writing details about the likely timeline for rolling out paper packs on the retailer's main range of dried pasta had not been disclosed.

Tesco said that in the past five years it had cut more than 2.3 billion pieces of plastic from its UK business through its 4Rs packaging strategy – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

As part of the associated targets, Tesco has pledged to make all its packaging fully recyclable by December 2025, and for all the paper and board it uses to be fully sustainable by the same date.