Morrisons to replace ALL plastic bags for life with 30p paper ones

MORRISONS is replacing all its plastic bags for life from today with reusable paper ones that costs 30p.

The switch comes after the success of a trial in eight Morrisons supermarkets in August last year. 

PA

The new paper bags will replace the plastic bags for life.[/caption]

The new paper carriers are 20p cheaper than the reusable plastic bags for life, which costs 50p following a price hike in December 2020 to encourage shoppers to bring their own.

Morrisons scrapped all single-use 5p plastic bags back in 2018 and instead shoppers could fork out for the more expensive recyclable plastic bags.

But the supermarket says that many customers were still binning the plastic bags for life after a single use.

The retail giant hopes the move will save 3,200 tonnes of plastic a year.

Morrisons first introduced the paper bags at checkouts in 2019 and one in three Morrisons customers have now switched from plastic to paper.

It now plans to roll out the new carriers in all 500 of its stores starting today.

The 50p plastic bags will still be available in most stores while the new policy is phased in. 

They will first be removed from stores in Scotland starting this month and then stores in England and Wales over the next year. 

Despite being made from paper, the new carriers are reusable, recyclable, water-resistant and tear-resistant, Morrisons says.

They are 100% PEFC accredited meaning they are manufactured from responsibly managed sources and can be easily recycled. 

The University of Sheffield also carried out a life cycle assessment of Morrisons paper bags, finding they have a lower carbon footprint than the plastic equivalents. 

For those worried that the bags won’t be strong enough, the supermarket says they can carry weights of up to 16kg each – that’s equal to 13 bottles of wine.

But it might be more difficult to carry frozen foods as the condensation from the packaging is more likely to cause the paper to disintegrate.

Shoppers will still be able to buy the jute, cotton and reusable woven bags too but they will set you back £2.50, £1.50 and 60p each.

Of course, bringing your own bags is still more sustainable and the cheapest way to avoid extra costs.

Customers who order their shopping online will no longer receive their delivery in plastic bags when orders are packed in stores.

Morrisons shoppers use around 90million bags for life a year, according to the supermarket.

The retailer says it’s now on track to hit its 50% plastic reduction target by 2025.

David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons said: “Removing all of the plastic bags from our supermarkets is a significant milestone in our sustainability programme.”

Last month, Asda announced it is scrapping free plastic bags for fruit and veg, meaning shoppers now need to bring their own or pay 30p for a reusable one. 

In October, Tesco doubled the price of its plastic bags to 20p in a bid to encourage shoppers to bring their own. 

Iceland banned all plastic bags in stores unless customers bought their own in a 2019 trial.