Morrisons is to offer paper carrier bags to all customers as part of its drive to remove “unnecessary plastic” from its stores.
Welsh stores will be the first to offer paper carrier bags next week(8 April). They will then roll-out to Morrisons’ English and Scottish stores in May.
The paper bags have been trialled in eight Morrisons stores since January and have proved popular with customers, the store says.
They are made in Wales from paper from “sustainably managed forests”and are strong enough to carry heavy weights up to 16kg. They will be priced at 20p, which will be the same price as Morrisons standard plastic carrier bag.
The paper grocery bags, which can be reused and ultimately recycled, are labelled ‘Reusable Paper Bag’.
“Our customers have told us that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern so introducing the paper bag across the nation will provide another way of reducing the plastic in their lives.”
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.
“Our customers have told us that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern so introducing the paper bag across the nation will provide another way of reducing the plastic in their lives.”
Morrisons has also assessed the bag’s carbon footprint and it is equivalent to the standard plastic carrier bag.
Removing single use 5p carrier bags led to 25% reduction in overall bag sales, it says.
Morrisons has also enabled customers to bring their own containers to Morrisons’ Butchers and Fishmongers counters and now sells all loose fruit & veg in paper rather than plastic bags.
It has also removed plastic packaging from a number of items, such as plastic sleeves from cucumbers during the British growing season.