Co-op to stop selling bags-for-life at all stores

The retailer, as part of this move and ahead of the new carrier bag levy increase coming in to place, will also roll out compostable carriers to all stores.

Co-op’s new initiative will remove 29.5 million bags for life, weighing around 870 tonnes of plastic, from sale each year.

In addition, the retailer has published a new report ‘Bag to Rights’ which sets out new policy recommendations for the government. Co-op is calling for a policy to require major retailers to report on all reusable bags, as well as single-use bags, to provide greater transparency to track the true impact of carrier bag levy.

The retailer’s other recommendations include requiring all single-use carrier bags to be certified compostable and introducing a minimum 50p price for reusable bags to create a greater perceived value to encourage customers to reuse them instead of treating them as single-use.

Co-op is now looking to work with more food retailers to adopt a balanced and joined-up approach to their carrier bag offer. Co-op’s approach involves removing bags for life from sale, rolling out compostable bags for 10p, and setting the price of its lowest-cost reusable bag at 50p.

Jo Whitfield, chief executive at Co-op Food, said: “Increased use of Bags for Life has led to a sharp rise in plastic use. With over 1.5 billion bags sold each year by retailers, this remains a massive issue for our industry as many shoppers are regularly buying so-called ‘Bags for Life’ to use just once and it’s leading to major hike in the amount of plastic being produced.

“To help tackle plastic pollution and the use of unnecessary plastic, we will be ceasing the sale of Bags for Life when current stocks are exhausted. We’re also ensuring all of our members and customers have access to a low price point option that’s more environmentally friendly, alongside more durable bags at a higher price point.”