UK retailer Morrisons to introduce paper carrier bags in all stores

|
|

UK retailer Morrisons has announced it will offer paper carrier bags to all customers in a move which might remove 1,300 t of single use plastic bags each year.

According to a company statement, Welsh stores will be the first to offer paper carrier bags from next week. English and Scottish stores will follow suit in May. The paper bags have been trialled in eight Morrisons stores since January and have proved popular with customers, the company wrote.

The bags are made in Wales from paper from sustainably managed forests and are strong enough to carry heavy weights up to 16 kg. They will be priced at 20p (23 cents), which will be the same price as Morrisons standard plastic carrier bag. Morrisons has also assessed the bags' carbon footprint and said it was equivalent to the standard plastic carrier bags.

Andy Atkinson, Group Customer and Marketing Director, at Morrisons said: “We are taking another meaningful step that will remove an estimated 1,300 tonnes of plastic out of the environment each year.“

This is just another step the company takes to reduce the use of single plastics. In early 2018, Morrisons removed single use 5p (6 cent) carrier bags from its stores. This led to a 25 per cent reduction in overall bag sales. The company also started to accept customers to bring their own containers to its butchers and fishmongers counters. All loose fruit and vegetables are to be sold in paper rather than plastic bags. Furthermore the company started removing plastic packaging from many items such as plastic sleeves from cucumbers during the British growing season.

Morrisons is a leading British retailer with sales of £17.7bn (€21bn) the 2018/19 financial year and nearly 500 stores in the UK.

EUWID Pulp and Paper keeps busy professionals up-to-date on the latest news from European pulp and paper markets.

Want to find out more? Check our subscriptions or test EUWID free of charge.

- Ad -
- Ad -