The UK retailer is investing significant sums to help improve kerbside recycling, which it hopes will enable councils to collect an additional 60,000 tonnes of recyclable material each year.
The first initiative will launch in partnership with Somerset County Council's Waste Partnership. M&S is investing £1.25m over five years to help the authority add plastics and cardboard to the materials that it collects from homes across the district.
Three other similar partnerships are also set to be announced later this year, with M&S in advanced talks with a number of selected authorities.
The partnerships will benefit M&S, as approximately 15,000 tonnes of the packaging waste collected will be diverted back into food packaging and reused by the retailer.
The remaining waste will be sold to other packaging producers.
The new scheme is part of a five-year eco and ethical plan called Plan A, which M&S introduced in 2007.
Other initiatives that have been launched include an effort to reduce packaging and carrier bags, and a renewed commitment by the retailer to stop sending waste to landfill sites.
Dr Helene Roberts, head of packaging at M&S, said: "This is a pioneering project that we believe will change the face of recycling in the UK. These partnerships mean that we will get the materials we need to close the recycling loop, and deliver a more sustainable future for food packaging."
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