UK Supermarkets 'to halve bags used'
Mark Lobel, BBC News 26 Nov 08;
Four of the UK's leading supermarkets say they are confident that by next Easter they will have halved the number of plastic bags handed to customers.
They were speaking after Waitrose and Asda told MPs they had already achieved 30% cuts by moving bags under counters so shoppers had to ask for them.
Supermarkets agreed to voluntary annual 25% cuts in bag use last year - heading off the option of plastic bag charges.
UK retailers hand out an estimated 13 billion free plastic bags every year.
Use of the bags, which take about 1,000 years to decay, is being examined as part of an inquiry by the Commons environment and rural affairs select committee into waste management in England.
Asda's head of sustainability and ethics Justin Walker-Palin told the committee the store had achieved a 30% reduction so far.
Mr Walker-Palin said the best results came from "lower demographic" shops after "taking a risk" last Christmas of removing carrier bags in all shops from above the counter.
Instead they were placed under the control of cashiers - who were told to have a conversation with the shopper before handing them over.
He added: "We're aiming for a 50% reduction by next Easter."
Following the meeting - during which Mr Walker-Palin explained it was cheaper for the company not to hand plastic bags out - committee chairman Michael Jack said that "Asda made a very good business case as to why plastic bags should be dispensed with".
Waitrose, represented at the hearing by the John Lewis Partnership's corporate social responsibility manager Gemma Lacey, has also seen a drop in carrier bag usage of nearly 30% this year, a reduction of 40 million bags.
The supermarket is also optimistic that it can achieve a 50% reduction by May.
Other supermarkets have also managed to achieve similar reductions. Usage of Sainsbury's free carrier bags has gone down by 28%, and reusable bags sales are up 200% over the last year.
Customers can get a weekly "bag reminder" text message sent to their phones, just before they usually go shopping, to encourage them to take bags with them.
Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King told the BBC: "We are over halfway to reducing bag usage by 50% by April 2009, and we hope our new texting reminder service will drive change in a practical way that helps customers change their bag usage habits."
Tesco customers "have saved over two billion carrier bags" since August 2006, a spokesman said.
By the spring, the company expects to be giving away 50% fewer bags than 2006, driven by incentives using their loyalty card scheme.
Morrisons' customers, which average 10 million a week, have been offered cardboard boxes, used to deliver products to the store, as an alternative to plastic bags at check-out.
They have also had to ask for more plastic bags instead of having an unlimited supply available on the counter.
A Morrisons spokesman told the BBC: "Our carrier bag use has fallen 22% since last year".
In May the supermarket chain gave away 10 million "multi-trip" bags, made from recycled material which it says "significantly reduced" the number of bags it used.
Recycling units are now available in every branch and the company aims to "increase the recycled content of standard plastic carrier bags to 25% by the end of 2008 and to 50% by the end of 2010".
Waste not
On broader environmental issues, Asda told the committee it had diverted 99% of operational waste from going to landfills in two of its 353 stores, in Bootle near Liverpool and Horwich near Manchester - by removing all biodegradable waste and using it to generate electricity, and taking out all recyclables.
The company aims to divert over 90% of operational waste in this way in 20 stores by February 2009.
During the committee meeting, all parties seemed to agree action was necessary on the ever-increasing amount of textiles going to landfill which, in the past five years, said Mr Jack, was up from 5% to 30%.
Mr Walker-Palin said that Asda had reduced carbon emissions from fleet transport by 25% since 2005 - and was on course to reach its 40% target by the end of next year.
Waitrose, whose company vehicles drove 17.5 million miles last year, is aiming for a reduction of 15% in energy-related transport CO2 emissions from deliveries by 2013, compared with 2005 levels.
Although no figures are yet available on their progress, trials of lorries using rapeseed oil have shown their carbon footprint "is up to 20% lower".
Tesco says it is on track to halve the carbon emissions created per case of goods delivered by 2012, compared with January this year, as they are "investing in state of the art technologies, cutting unnecessary road miles, and using alternatives to lorries such as canal barges and trains".
Packaging worries
As consultations continue over the next few weeks, Mr Jack believes "there is still a very significant debate to be had by retailers with their customers over packaging".
He is concerned by the "extensive and expensive" packaging still on show in many stores.
Mr Walker-Palin said his chain would tackle this problem by convening a "group of experts" at the beginning of 2009 to consider "packaging optimisation".
The group would focus on bringing in further "lightweighting" of their packaging - they say their packaging is 25% lighter than last year.
One option would be to introduce resealable devices, like zip-locks, to keep products from going off and adding to landfill waste - though such devices would, in turn, add weight to the packaging.
The company also wants to introduce a US-style "packaging score card" to indicate how environmentally friendly its products are.
The committee's report on waste is scheduled to be finalised and published at the end of January.
Supermarkets banish the plastic bag
Executives hail success of campaign against environmental menace
Martin Hickman, The Independent 27 Nov 08;
Britain's biggest supermarkets say they are on course to reduce by half their use of plastic bags by Easter.
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose are making progress in cutting the number of free bags handed out to shoppers in a victory for The Independent campaign highlighting the environmental threat posed by packaging. Plastic bags are made using oil and take hundreds of years to degrade in landfill sites, often after a single use. An estimated 13 billion plastic bags are handed out by UK retailers every year.
In February last year, six trade associations and 22 leading shops agreed to cut the use of plastic bags by 25 per cent by the end of this year. The initiative was agreed with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the public-funded anti-waste organisation Wrap, amid discussion of whether the Government should ban free carrier bags. Supermarkets have moved free bags behind the till and put up signs urging the use of "bags for life". Reporting their progress to MPs this week, the stores said they had succeeded in reducing the number of bags and would go beyond their original pledge.
Appearing before the Commons Environment and Rural Affairs Select Committee into waste management in England, Asda said it had achieved a 30 per cent cut so far. Justin Walker-Palin, Asda's head of sustainability and ethics, said cashiers had been told to discuss free bags with shoppers, adding: "We're aiming for a 50 per cent reduction by next Easter."
Thirty per cent fewer bags have been issued at Waitrose – 40 million less. Sainsbury's said it had cut free bags by 28 per cent, while reusable bag sales were up 200 per cent. Tesco expects to give away 50 per cent fewer bags than 2006 by the spring.
Asda told the committee that it had stopped 99 per cent of operational waste from going to landfill in two of its 353 stores by using all biodegradable waste to generate electricity. Tesco was cutting unnecessary road miles and using some alternatives to lorries such as canal barges and trains. Waitrose is aiming to cut CO2 from deliveries by 15 per cent from 2005 levels by 2013.
During the committee hearing, all parties agreed action should be taken to cut the amount of clothing going to landfill – in five years, the proportion of textiles in landfill has risen from 5 per cent to 30 per cent, a hike blamed on the "Primark effect" – low-quality fast fashion. The committee's report on waste will be published in January.
An environmental handful: Progress in the war on plastic bags
* Tesco said in August 2006 it had saved two billion bags since Green Clubcard Points were launched. Its carrier bag use is 40 per cent lower than two years ago.
* Since the Government set its bag target, Asda has seen a 30 per cent reduction in plastic carriers. Sales of bags-for- life have increased by 265 per cent.
* Between February and October this year, Waitrose gave out 68 million fewer bags than in the same period last year – around 30 per cent less.
* Sainsbury's has seen a 27 per cent reduction in free plastic bags up to June this year. Its year-on-year rise in the use of bags for life has been 200 per cent.
Canada's Loblaw To Charge For Plastic Shopping Bags
PlanetArk 28 Nov 08;
TORONTO - Loblaw Co, Canada's biggest supermarket chain, said on Thursday that it will start charging customers a fee for every plastic shopping bag they use.
The company, with more than 1,000 grocery stores across Canada, said it would begin charging customers 5 Canadian cents a bag on April 22, 2009, which is Earth Day.
The company said it would also encourage customers to use alternatives to plastic bags and enhance its offer of affordable reusable bag options. Loblaw currently offers reusable fabric bags to its customers for a small fee.
"We believe this ... represents the next natural step forward as we continue to acknowledge and respond to Canadians' desire to support environmental initiatives," Galen Weston, Loblaw executive chairman, said in a release.
Loblaw's move comes just days before city council in Toronto, Canada's biggest city, debates passing a controversial bylaw to put a surcharge of 5 Canadian cents on all plastic shopping bags used in the city.
Loblaw competitor Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Company, said on Thursday it plans to redirect the money it receives from the Toronto plan into environmental and sustainability initiatives in the city. Sobeys operates 16 stores in Toronto.
"This is about reducing bags from the waste stream and doing the right thing for the environment," said Tracy Chisholm, a spokeswoman for Sobeys' Ontario division.
"We believe that the money generated from that needs to go back into the cause that is in the spirit of the bylaw and goes toward environmental initiatives in supporting the environment."
Chisholm said it was too early to say whether the company would match Loblaw and charge for plastic shopping bags nationwide.
San Francisco became the first North American city to ban nonrecyclable plastic bags made from petroleum products in 2007, while the tiny town of Leaf Rapids in northern Manitoba last year became the first Canadian municipality to prohibit plastic shopping bags.
Countries including China, South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan have placed fees, taxes or outright bans on plastic shopping bags.
(US$1=$1.23 Canadian)
(Reporting by Scott Anderson; editing by Peter Galloway)
