UK retailers miss plastic bag target

BBC News 16 Jul 09;

Efforts to cut by half the number of plastic carrier bags supermarkets give their customers have narrowly failed.

Last year seven supermarkets signed up to the voluntary scheme which aimed for a 50% cut in bags given out compared to figures recorded for 2006.

However figures suggest 346m fewer carrier bags are being used every month than they were in 2006.

Plastic bags harm the environment because they take a long time to decompose and can endanger wildlife.

In May 2006, 718m bags were being given out but by May 2009 this had almost halved to 372m, which amounts to a reduction of 48%.

In Scotland, the reduction was 49% representing 39m bags less in May 2009 compared to the same month is 2006.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits."

He praised retailers for putting a lot into the scheme, and said he was looking forward to further reductions in the months ahead.

Mr Benn added: "This means that several hundred million fewer carrier bags are going to landfill every month and we're using less raw materials to make them, which is great news."

The British Retail Consortium believes consumer behaviour has now changed, helped by supermarkets giving out free re-usable bags and awarding loyalty points to customers who bring their own bags.

As a result, some environmentalists are now calling for a charge of up to 15 pence for each disposable carrier bag.

Supermarkets miss target to cut carrier bag use
Leading supermarkets have failed to meet a target on cutting the use of carrier bags given to customers despite Government campaigns.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 17 Jul 09;

Seven supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement to reduce the number of bags given out by half.

Plastic bags are the scourge of environmentalists as they take hundreds of years to decompose despite typically being used only once.

Discarded bags blight the landscape and kill small animals and birds that become snared up in them.

And bags that make it into the sea are eaten by turtles and marine mammals, who mistake them for jellyfish, with disastrous consequences.

Last year, the seven supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement with the Government to achieve a 50 per cent cut in the number of bags given out compared to 2006.

In May 2006, 718 million bags were being given out - by May 2009 this had almost halved to 372 million, a reduction of 48 per cent.

However Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said it was still a great achievement.

"The target of a 50 per cent reduction was only narrowly missed and retailers have really put a lot into this in the last six months," he said.

"This means that several hundred million fewer carrier bags are going to landfill every month and we're using less raw materials to make them, which is great news. I look forward to seeing further reductions in the months ahead."

Supermarkets in Britain slash plastic bags
Yahoo News 17 Jul 09;

LONDON (AFP) – Supermarkets in Britain are giving out almost half as many plastic shopping bags as they were three years ago after a campaign to slash use of the environmental hazards, officials have said.

Shoppers were handed 372 million plastic bags at seven major supermarkets in May this year, down from 718 million bags at the same time in 2006, the environment secretary said.

The figures suggest supermarkets are now using 346 million fewer carrier bags every month than they were in 2006, a drop of 48 percent.

"This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said.

The reduction narrowly misses a voluntary target set by the supermarkets, including Sainsbury's and Tesco, at the end of 2008 to halve the number of plastic carrier bags handed out compared to May 2006.

"The target of a 50 percent reduction was only narrowly missed and retailers have really put a lot into this in the last six months," Benn said.

Plastic bags can take decades to decompose and are blamed for clogging waterways, farms and fields, as well as damaging marine life when they are dumped in the sea.

Governments, retailers and consumers around the world are under pressure to reduce the number of plastic bags, which are also piling up landfills.