grocery store ‘bags for life’ must cost greater to reduce plastic use, urge campaigners

Green campaigners have urged greater costs for thus-called luggage for life after dramatic sales raises at some marketers due to the fact that the ending of sales of single-use plastic service luggage.

Marks & Spencer sold six times as many luggage for life in 2019 because the year before, up from 13.4m to 82.6m, in accordance with figures from Greenpeace and the Environmental Investigation agency (EIA). Iceland tripled its revenue, to 107.3m from 34m the outdated 12 months.

On Monday, the govt will introduce legislation to elevate the can charge on single-use luggage from 5p to 10p and extend the can charge to cowl small and unbiased retail outlets, as neatly because the tremendous chains. however campaigners say this has turn into beside the point as a result of most supermarkets have scrapped service bags and now purchasers are purchasing bags for all times, with significantly greater plastic, for as little as 20p.

Supermarkets bought 1.58bn baggage for life in 2019, in response to figures from Greenpeace and the EIA, the equivalent of 57 per family within the UK – a couple of a week.

Morrisons, which offered 110.8m baggage for life in 2019, announced past this month that it would end all plastic-bag income fully. Waitrose, which has offered about 22m a 12 months constantly, is doing away with them from sale in some stores. Asda bought 41% greater in 2019, as much as 288.9m from 205m. Tesco continues to be the greatest vendor of bags for all times, with 528m offered in 2019, but that become down with the aid of 26% from 713m the old 12 months. Sainsbury’s additionally offered fewer baggage, at 236.3m.

The govt moved towards provider bags in 2018 after the David Attenborough sequence Blue Planet II highlighted the hurt carried out to oceans by way of plastic waste.

but a few efforts against plastic use have stalled on the grounds that then. youngsters some plastic microbeads were banned, along with plastic straws and stirrers, the microplastic ban simplest applies to cosmetics, which account for 9% of plastic pollutants from deliberately delivered microplastics.

The european is limiting their use in personal care items, fertilisers, paints and polishes, which account for ninety% of toxins, the green Alliance pointed out. And remaining month the executive announced that plans for a brand new deposit return scheme for drinks bottles, first promised in 2018, have been pushed back except at the least 2024.

Libby Peake, head of useful resource coverage at the eco-friendly Alliance, observed: “Blue Planet II become a as soon as-in-a-technology programme that impressed the nation to demand alternate in how we design and use plastics. while the govt has made some development, it has up to now generally squandered this possibility, with dither, prolong and piecemeal policymaking.“The newest move on plastic bags is this issue in a nutshell. We’re inching ahead and creating other talents problems as we do so. Let’s be clear that bags for all times, when used for every week or much less, aren't ‘greener’ options, and should have a a lot better price factor to disincentivise repeat purchases.”

The eco-friendly Alliance and the EIA say the executive may still observe ireland’s lead in elevating the cost for luggage for life to at least 70p. The Irish government set bag for life expenditures at at the least 70 cents, which has led to a 90% discount in sales.

linked: ‘Single-use plastics’ to be phased out in Australia from 2025 include plastic utensils and straws

other measures should still include mandatory reporting of bag-for-existence sales, and never allowing retailers to hold the proceeds of bag for all times earnings.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Labour’s frontbench spokesperson on the environment in the Lords, mentioned: “I should be asking the minister why the delayed motion on single-use plastic bags has not been matched via further controls on the sale of the thicker plastic bags for life to keep away from misuse. in any other case we chance a perverse result which can be even more destructive to the environment.

“in the end, plastics manufacturers have to take full responsibility for the toxins brought about via these materials, and consumers want better incentives to use clean, eco-friendly, long-life products.”

Christina Dixon, the senior ocean campaigner for the EIA, said: “decent intentions can nonetheless have unintended environmental penalties and the plastic bag policy needs a rethink. Plastic baggage for life are being issued in fantastic numbers. The ‘bag for per week’ phenomenon can most effective be shifted with bold and decisive leadership pushed by using a very eco-friendly agenda.”

The branch for the environment, meals and Rural Affairs referred to it had no plans to introduce any extra can charge on luggage for all times. A spokesperson stated: “the united kingdom is a global leader when it comes to tackling plastic and our 5p service bag cost has reduce income by way of 95% basically supermarkets

“there is extra to do even though. To take billions extra bags out of circulation and step up our war on plastic pollution, … we will go additional through expanding the minimum charge to 10p and increasing it to all agents this spring.

“Our landmark ambiance invoice will provide us the powers to take further action to give protection to our ecosystems from plastic and break our plastic dependancy for first rate.”

A spokesman for Marks and Spencer referred to that earnings of bags for all times had risen in 2019 because “we removed single-use bags from our outlets which skill the average number of luggage sold decreased”.