Newport's first permanent plastic free shop has opened its doors at Tredegar House, Duffryn.

Sero Zero Waste was started by Newport friends Liz Morgan and Laura Parry and sells ethically sourced household and cosmetic items.

The business has built a substantial following on social media through the year by providing online eco-tips, plastic free shopping at pop-up stalls and ‘top-up’ refill deliveries.

Liz Morgan, co-founder of Sero Zero Waste, said: “We’ve had such a positive response to Sero over the last few months that we’ve decided to expand our offering by setting ourselves up in a permanent shop at Tredegar House.

“We will be offering all our staple items – coffee, chocolate, cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, washing and cleaning goods – but also looking at where we can begin to expand our range, including our ‘Zero Waste Christmas Hampers’, which have been really popular.”

Laura Parry said: “We’re really excited to continue playing our part in helping people make some easy, sustainable changes to their shopping habits to help bring us closer to a plastic free Newport.

“If everyone makes a small change, for example by bringing their own shampoo bottles back to us for refills, we can dramatically reduce the amount of plastic ending up back in the ecosystem.”

At a time when traditional retail is struggling, the popularity of Sero Zero Waste shows the appetite for environmentally conscious shopping in Newport.

Jayne Bryant, MS for Newport West, said: “This is really exciting news. The shop at Tredegar House will be the first of its kind in Newport and long overdue. Laura and Liz have worked incredibly hard over the past year in the most difficult of times.

“They’ve already grown a loyal following from their stalls at outdoor markets in Newport and their mobile refill shop and are constantly adapting and expanding their range. As more people rightly want to take action to reduce unnecessary plastic waste and rubbish to landfill, it’s clear that the demand for zero waste shopping has increased.”

Sero’s owners confirmed that the regular pop-up stalls that Sero has become known for will continue at locations across the city.

Liz Morgan said: “We’re so grateful for the support shown and the enthusiasm for zero-waste shopping that we’ve seen since we started Sero, that we’re keen to maintain our presence in the communities we’ve built up a regular following. So you’ll still see us with our stand at Belle-Vue Park, Halse Nurseries, the Loading Bay and perhaps a few new places too!”