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Supermarkets to halve free plastic bags
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent18 Dec 2008
SUPERMARKETS today promised to slash the number of plastic bags they hand out to escape having to impose a charge on them.
Waitrose, Tesco, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, the Co-Op, and Somerfield agreed to halve the number of single-use free plastic bags they give out -compared with the 13 billion of 2006 - by spring next year.
The pledge came as ministers and London boroughs threatened to force retailers to charge for bags. Environment minister Jane Kennedy hailed it as a "bold commitment". But it waters down ministers' goal of a 70 per cent reduction. Last year, one billion fewer bags were handed out.
Reader views (10)
There are many things that need to be done to make this a greener country or world. Here are just a few. The plastic bags issue would be on the bottom of a very very long list!
Find an economic model that does not depend on growth alone.
Hold or shrink the existing population numbers.
Dont pay people to have children.
Stop flights to Europe for under £30 and put tax on aviation fuel.
Stop importing poor quality goods (fron half way round the world) that have a one season life span.
Stop building cars with huge engines.
Develop a public transport system that works.
Make it cheaper to travel to Birmingham than to travel to Brussels!
You can add your own green cause below but I'm sure you can see my point.
- Lawrence, Liverpool, 19/12/2008 10:11
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This whole campaign against supermarket bags is ludicrous. The two stores I use regularly are Tesco's and The Co-Op. Both supply shoppers with bio-degradeable bags and I would imagine most people recycle these as bin liners.
Reducing the supply of free bio-degradeable bags would simply force people to buy plastic bin liners instead. This is absolute madness but probably as much as can be expected from the clueless people running the government at the moment.
- Derek Stanley, Huntingdon UK, 19/12/2008 09:41
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I find the worst offenders are the local shops/customers. Almost everyone who goes into Mr Patel's comes out with a carrier bag, some just holding a newspaper. That to me is ridiculous, or are they ashamed of what paper/magazine they buy perhaps.
- Anon, England, 19/12/2008 06:09
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to alan and m - i am sure your biting satire is justified, but perhaps even you can both agree that anything that cuts down on waste is not a bad thing. after all we are not talking about a few bags here we are talking about billions of bags, a fair few of which end up cluttering the streets of the city.
and lets be honest here those 13 billion bags are not free we are paying for them in the prices we pay in the shops.
after all how hard is it to carry a bag with you when you do your shopping?
- Pat, United Kingdom, 19/12/2008 02:20
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I got a reused bag for the supermarket.
but i did had to pay 6p for a bag at whsmith last month.
- Andy, London, 18/12/2008 20:02
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We always use old bags to line our kitchen waste bin. They never get just thrown away.
- Dhanraj, Basildon Essex, 18/12/2008 16:14
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I have ahd problems in ASDA when I ahve used my own bags at the self service till. It keeps stopping and saying not bagged, so then I find I end up using their bags to get throught the checkout.
Also, if I have to pay for a bag, I do not want their logo on, as I am giving them free advertising. I did contemplate sending a bill to Marks and Spencer for advertising their store.
- E Sullivan, London, 18/12/2008 16:09
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As 'Pinky and the Brain' said 'Tomorrow the world'. So as the Half wits and numb skulls who lead us clamber on to the passing green band wagon, have any of them stopped to think what they are saying. If Environment Minister Jane Kennedy thinks that this is a bold commitment, then she suffers from the same lack of ability to use joined up thinking as the Saviour of the World, Gordon. He promotes nuclear power to save us from global warming, and has succeeded in getting our local County Council to register their interest in building an underground nuclear waste repository because we already have Sellafield? Where? Oh, On the Coast! How high will sea levels rise because of Global Warming? A maximum of 250 feet! Can nuclear power stations operate under water? I don't think so. How poisonous is radiation? Deadly to everything. Doh!
If they were serious about this they should investigate the claims of one inventor who said he could convert waste plastic to a type of diesel. If this were true we could then recycle all our waste plastic, even the stuff the councils are now collecting but can't get rid of, and produce something useful, (Which is more than can be said of Environment ministers), and create a few more jobs. But we don't want to do that do we. We would rather have minister praising bold commitments which are about as substantial as the plastic bag they are trying to get rid of.
- Alan, Carlisle UK, 18/12/2008 15:42
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Why are they so bothered about having to make a charge? Do they really think that there would be less shoppers if every shop operated thew same policy, "bring your own bags or pay 5p/bag to charity"? No, we'd just all learn to walk around with a few rolled-up carrier bags in our pocket or handbag, and there would be a lot less plastic waste around!
- Nigel, London, 18/12/2008 15:00
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I for one am happy all our other woes are behind us and this is the most important thing that needs tackling. Bravo Gordon and pals, Bravo and may your next 4 years be as fruitful!
- M, London, 18/12/2008 14:48
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