Remember when Morrisons said it would trial paper bags in 8 stores in Wales to see if they went down well with consumers? Well, they clearly did, because the supermarket has announced today it's rolling them out to all of its stores across England and Scotland. The 8 stores in Wales will be joined by the rest of the Welsh branches next week, followed by English and Scottish branches next month. The paper bags cost 20p each, which is now the same price as a standard plastic bag at Morrisons (not a bag for life, the rubbish ones). While Waitrose snootily commented at the start of the trial that making a paper bag uses more energy than a plastic one, Morrisons counters that its paper and plastic bags have the same carbon footprint, that the paper ones are made in Wales from sustainable forests, and that they can be both reused and recycled. We did wonder about strength since it's only paper, but they can apparently carry up to 16KG, which is definitely more than some of the tissue-thin plastic bags can manage before dropping your week's haul of baked beans on your slippered feet (just me? OK). Whether that strength holds up when it rains and they go all mushy is another question, though. Morrisons says the paper bags have been very popular with customers and will save tonnes of plastic (literally). The delightfully alliterative Andy Atkinson, Group Customer and Marketing Director, comments: "We are taking another meaningful step that will remove an estimated 1,300 tonnes of plastic out of the environment each year. 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." Between this and their new vegan mozzarella sticks, Morrisons wins Giz UK's Good Guy Award for the day.
Morrisons, the UK supermarket, is to provide paper bags across its stores in England and Scotland, following a trial in Wales. The bags cost 20p (¢25) each, the same as a standard plastic bag in the store, and can carry up to 16 kg. Waitrose criticised the move, claiming it uses more energy to make a paper than a plastic bag. However, Morrisons said its paper and plastic bags have the same carbon footprint and that its paper bags can be both reused and recycled. The bags are expected to remove 8 mt of plastic from the environment annually.