British supermarket chain Morrisons has committed to offering paper carrier bags to customers across all stores in a bid to remove unnecessary plastic from its operations.
As part of the initiative, Welsh retailer stores will begin offering paper carrier bags from next week. It will then expand the launch to stores across England and Scotland in May.
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Morrisons announced its decision to trial the paper grocery bags in January.
The company also said that the price of the reusable plastic bag increased to 15p from 10p, and the handled paper grocery bags will be available for 20p.
According to the company, the paper bags can be reused and ultimately recycled, and are made in Wales using paper from sustainably managed forests. The bags can hold up to 16kg of weight.
Morrisons group customer and marketing director Andy Atkinson said: “We are taking another meaningful step that will remove an estimated 1,300t of plastic out of the environment each year.
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By GlobalData“Our customers have told us that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern so introducing the paper bag across the nation will provide another way of reducing the plastic in their lives.”
The supermarket chain noted the bag’s carbon footprint is equivalent to the standard plastic carrier bag.
Other initiatives by the company include removing single-use 5p carrier bags, asking customers to bring their own containers to Morrisons’ Butchers and Fishmongers counters, selling all loose fruit and vegetables in paper rather than plastic bags, and removing plastic packaging from various items such as cucumbers.
Earlier this month, the British supermarket chain completely cut expanded polystyrene packaging from its own-brand products, swapping it with cardboard and recyclable plastic trays made from recycled bottles.
