Paper bag pilots: Morrisons trials switch to save 3.5k tons of plastic annually

18 Aug 2020 --- UK supermarket chain Morrisons is set to recall its plastic checkout bags, coined “bags for life” – which were meant to be reused by consumers – and instead employ “sturdy” paper alternatives. The retailer is running trials in eight stores across the UK for 12 weeks starting yesterday and will implement the change to paper across all of its 494 locations, provided the paper bags are popular with consumers. If successful, the switch will save 3.510 metric tons of plastic per year, which is the equivalent of 90 million plastic bags.

“We believe customers are ready to stop using plastic carrier bags as they want to reduce the amount of plastic they have in their lives and keep it out of the environment. We know that many are taking reusable bags back to store and, if they forget these, we have paper bags that are tough, convenient and a reusable alternative,” says David Potts, Chief Executive of Morrisons.

The paper bag has handles and is strong enough to carry heavy weights up to 16 kg.Morrisons’ paper bag has handles, a similar capacity to a standard plastic bag for life, and is strong enough to carry heavy weights up to 16 kg, which is the equivalent of 13 bottles of wine. The bags are 100 percent Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)-accredited. This means that they are sourced from forests that are managed responsibly and manufactured at an eco-powered site in Wales. Labeled “Reusable Paper Bag,” they can be reused and easily recycled at curbside. 

Away with plastic
Single use 5 pence (US$0.07) carrier bags were removed from most major supermarkets in 2018, but customers are still buying plastic bags for life, which are stronger and thicker. In some cases, there is evidence they are being used once before being binned, the retailer says. Morrisons was the first supermarket to introduce paper carrier bags at checkouts in all of its 494 stores at the start of last year. Since then the bags have proven popular with customers, with one in three shoppers switching from plastic to paper bags, the retailer notes. 

The supermarket will consider customer feedback  before making the decision to remove plastic bags across its stores nationwide. Morrisons will also continue to offer jute, cotton and reusable woven bags options in all stores. Last year Morrisons removed and made recyclable 9,000 metric tons of plastic. The supermarket is on track to hit its 50 percent plastic reduction target by 2025, against a 2017 baseline.  

In 2018, Morrisons also launched a “bring-your-own-packaging” scheme, encouraging shoppers to bring their own plastic containers to the meat and fish counter in exchange for 100 loyalty card points, the equivalent of 10 pence. 

In 2018, the UK government announced that plastic bag sales in England’s “big seven” supermarkets dropped by 86 percent since the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge.In May 2019, the retailer became the first UK supermarket to introduce plastic-free fruit and veg zones across many of its stores. Customers are now able to choose from up to 127 varieties of fruit and vegetables and buy them loose or put them in recyclable paper bags. The move followed a ten-month trial in three Morrisons stores in Skipton, Guiseley and St Ives, where the amount of loose fruit and vegetables bought by customers increased by an average of 40 percent. The new “buy bagless” fresh produce shelves are expected to result in a similar switch from bagged to loose – saving an estimated three tons of plastic a week, equating to 156 tons a year.

UK retailers move away from plastic
In 2018, the UK government announced that plastic bag sales in England’s “big seven” supermarkets dropped by 86 percent since the introduction of the 5 pence plastic bag charge in 2015. The figures compiled by the UK government revealed customers of the biggest supermarkets bought nearly a quarter fewer plastic bags last year compared to 2016/17 – a decrease of nearly 300 million bags. The “big seven” supermarkets consist of Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, The Co-operative Group, Tesco and Waitrose.

However, a 2019 survey found that despite public commitments to reduce the use of virgin plastic, the plastic packaging sold by major UK supermarkets rose to more than 900,000 metric tons annually. Conducted in partnership with Greenpeace, the report Checking Out on Plastics II: Breakthroughs and backtracking from supermarkets, revealed that seven from the top 10 supermarkets had increased their plastic footprint. Only Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have achieved small reductions.

Tesco is moving toward compostable packaging. It was recently announced that Terracycle’s zero waste e-commerce platform Loop has initiated Phase Two of its pilot Loop process with Tesco. Consumers in mainland England, Scotland and Wales can now order and responsibly consume over 150 food and household products that arrive in durable, reusable packaging as part of the supermarket’s online refillable container trial. The Loop expansion to Great Britain advances Tesco’s 4R packaging strategy to “remove, reduce, reuse and recycle.”

In the same spirit and in a bid to address concerns of single-use plastic packaging pollution, Sainsbury’s also announced, last September, a new commitment to reduce its plastic packaging by 50 percent by 2025. Toward this goal, the company aims to switch to alternative materials, use lighter-weight plastics and introduce refillable packaging at scale.

Lastly, following an “overwhelmingly positive” response to its bring-your-own packaging trial, dubbed “Unpacked,” Waitrose & Partners extended its packaging-free shopping experience in Oxford, UK.

By Kristiana Lalou