Tesco opts for 'green' carrier bags
biggest supermarket group with 13 million customers, is to
introduce degradable carrier bags in all of its stores from next
year, the first UK retail group to take such a move.
The company said that from 2004, all of its carrier bags would be made using a new additive called TDPA, developed by EPI Environmental Products, which means that the bags will start to break down in as little as 60 days, leaving no harmful residues.
Tesco has been trialling the new bags in stores throughout the south east of England, and claims that they are as strong as regular bags and can be recycled and re-used up until the degrading process begins (when the bag becomes brittle). Once degraded, biomass, carbon dioxide, water and a small amount of mineral matter is all that is left.
Lucy Neville-Rolfe, group corporate affairs director at Tesco, said that the move had come in response to customers' desire to do more for the environment. "It is also a huge boost for the environment and will help to keep our streets tidy," she added.
"Unlike many other 'green' carrier bags, the new Tesco bag will break down quickly even if inadvertently discarded outdoors - although we would never encourage people to dispose of them in this way.
"These new bags are the latest initiative to help our customers use carrier bags responsibly. Our re-usable 'Bag For Life' is hugely popular with tens of millions in use around the country, saving tonnes of waste plastic from going to landfill. What some people don't know is that you can bring these back when they wear out and receive a new one free."
The company has already introduced carrier bag recycling units in hundreds of stores, encouraging customers to return their bags for recycling, again in response to consumer demand.
