Asda is to cut the number of plastic bags offered to shoppers by 20 per cent, with a “bag on request” system to be introduced at the beginning of June.
As reported in the Daily Mail, the retailer will remove all single-use carrier bags from its checkouts, and customers will have to ask for a bag if they need one to pack their groceries.
In February last year, Asda signed up to a deal to reduce the environmental impact of its plastic bags by 25 per cent by the end of 2008.
However, it actually handed out 40 million more throwaway bags in 2007, taking the year’s figure up to 2.23 billion.
The supermarket claims that a trial of the “bag on request” system in six stores has led to a fall of 20 per cent in the number handed out. The chain plans to cut the total number of bags issued at tills in 2008 to 1.75bn - still more than 67 for every household in the land.
The launch of the initiative will coincide with the introduction of a new range of ‘bags for life’. The firm said a trial had seen a rise of almost 1,000 per cent in sales of re-usable bags.
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