Morrisons, headquartered in Bradford, England, plans to trial the launch of large paper bags for groceries at its supermarket check-outs, according to a news release from London’s The Guardian newspaper. The chain will also raise the price of plastic bags by 50 percent.
The Guardian reports that Morrisons will charge 15 pence instead of 10 pence for its standard plastic bag, while testing out U.S.-style paper grocery bags with handles costing 20 pence. The paper bags, which can be reused and recycled, were introduced due to consumer demand. According to The Guardian, the paper bags will only be available in eight of its 493 stores initially.
Andy Atkinson, Morrisons’ group customer and marketing director, tells The Guardian that the new paper bags will do the same job as standard plastic carrier bags while also reducing the amount of plastic the company uses.
Morrisons has made a number of moves in the past year in an effort to reduce its use of plastic. According to a Morrisons news release, the supermarket chain reintroduced paper wrapping for its bouquets and removed plastic wrapping as part of its plastic reduction program in August 2018. This change will be complete in 2019 in an effort to save about 925 metric tons of plastic a year.
According to the supermarket, the chain is using “hydro paper” for its bouquets, which has wax mixed into it that makes it waterproof. The company reports that the hydro paper is also 100 percent recyclable.
According to a Morrisons news release, the chain announced several other measures to reduce plastic use, including:
• enabling customers to bring their own containers to Morrisons Butchers and Fishmongers counters; and,
• removing plastic sleeves from cucumbers.