Co-op said it will remove plastic bags for life from sale in all of its stores, warning that the low-cost, reusable bag has become the new single-use carrier.
The retailer will instead roll out compostable carriers to all stores to ensure that customers are able to purchase a low-cost, low impact alternative bag with a sustainable second use.
“With over 1.5 billion bags sold each year by retailers, this remains a massive issue for our industry as many shoppers are regularly buying so called ‘Bags for Life’ to use just once and it’s leading to major hike in the amount of plastic being produced,” Jo Whitfield, Co-op Food chief executive, said.
“To help tackle plastic pollution and the use of unnecessary plastic, we will be ceasing the sale of Bags for Life when current stocks are exhausted. We’re also ensuring all of our members and customers have access to a low price point option that’s more environmentally friendly, alongside more durable bags at a higher price point.”
Co-op has called for a policy to require major retailers to report on all reusable bags, as well as single-use bags, to provide greater transparency to track the true impact of carrier bag levy. Co-op presently reports on all of the bags it sells.
The retailer has also urged the government requiring all single-use carrier bags to be certified compostable and to introduce a minimum 50p price for reusable bags to encourage customers to reuse them instead of treating them as single-use.
While plastic bag charge has reduced the sale of conventional single use carriers significantly, seeing a 95% reduction since its introduction in 2015, data from Greenpeace showed that supermarkets distributed over 1.5 billion bags for life – weighing a total of 44,913 tonnes – in 2019, which is a 56 percent increase from the previous year.
Co-op said its new initiative will remove 29.5 million bags for life, weighing around 870 tonnes of plastic, from sale each year. It added that it hopes to work with more food retailers to adopt a “balanced and joined-up approach” to their carrier bag offer.
Co-op became the first retailer to make compostable carrier bags widely available when it rolled them out to over 1,000 stores in 2018. The bags are certified compostable with a secondary use as a food waste caddy liner in the home and, collected as part of Local Authority household food waste collections.
In England, the plastic bag charge is being extended to all retailers for the first time. The changes to the regulations, which will also see the charge doubles to 10p, will take effect on 21 May. Businesses of any size already charge for plastic bags in Wales and Scotland.
