The UK's largest supermarket chain said yesterday that it would seek to cut the number of carrier bags its gives to customers by 25% over the next two years.
 Tesco is aiming to cut the number of plastic bags given out each year by one billion |
Every year, the UK gets through over 17.5 billion plastic carrier bags handed out at supermarkets alone. Tesco believes its plan could see nearly one billion fewer plastic bags used each year.
Speaking to the think tank Work Foundation yesterday, Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy laid out more details behind the environmental promises made by the company last month (see letsrecycle.com story).
In his speech, Sir Terry said: “We have over many years grown used to using new plastic carrier bags each time we shop. Achieving a significant change in habit is never easy, but we are encouraged that our customers tell us that they want to see fewer bags used.
“So we will be helping in a number of ways: for example making our re-usable Bags for Life better, more attractive, more affordable, and more accessible at the checkout. We will also experiment with different materials.”
Criticism
But it was the promise that all Tesco carrier bags will be degradable from September 2006 that earned criticism from Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne.
”Biodegradable plastic bags, by creating greenhouse gases within landfill sites, in themselves can have adverse environmental impact. “
– Chris Huhne, Lib Dems
Mr Huhne accused the supermarket chain of misunderstanding waste issues, suggesting that degradable plastic bags will produce greenhouse gases when they break down.
The Eastleigh MP explained yesterday: “Tesco may have acknowledged the problem of excessive plastic bags, but their solution suggests that they don't understand it. Biodegradable plastic bags, by creating greenhouse gases within landfill sites, in themselves can have adverse environmental impact, which may be even more of a problem than the waste itself.
“This announcement today does nothing to address the real crux of the problem, which is how we reduce our waste, including plastic bags, in the first place,” Mr Huhne added.
The Liberal Democrat environment spokesman called for the government to bring in a plastic bag tax or charge, which he said would “make supermarkets and consumers think twice before they give away and use plastic bags in the first place”.
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Tesco's other environmental pledges have included building a new store made entirely from recycled materials and doubling the amount of household waste collected at its stores through the use of more Tomra automated recycling machines.
Tesco claims its 450 stores account for 13% of all material collected for recycling by local authorities. It believes its ambitions would achieve 10% of the increase required in UK packaging waste recovery to meet EU targets set for 2008.
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