A pilot scheme in the UK to persuade shoppers to use more environmentally-friendly alternatives to the traditional plastic carrier bag has had positive results in reducing the number of bags being used unnecessarily. The scheme was organised by Durham County Council (www.durham.gov.uk) in conjunction with major retailers Tesco, Sainsbury´s and Marks & Spencer. It sought to raise public awareness of the issue and the measures that could be taken as an alternative to the imposition of a plastic bag tax, as introduced in Ireland and which had been suggested for Durham. The retail stores promoted a variety of initiatives, including reusable bags, “bags-for-life” and biodegradable carriers. They also carried out surveys before and after the trial period.

The results showed that only 10% of people reused the conventional retail carrier bag for shopping, although a majority used it subsequently for collecting waste. Most said that a tax would have a significant impact on the way they used carriers and 80% said they preferred stores that were trying to be environmentally-friendly. There was a 500% increase in the sale of bags-for-life by Sainsbury´s and an 80% increase by Tescos. A range of long life, woven fabric bags introduced by Marks & Spencer in Durham was so popular it was launched in all the retailer´s stores with food sections.

Durham County Council´s Overview and Scrutiny Committee believes similar results could be duplicated throughout Great Britain, especially as the scheme made an impact with shoppers. “What our pilot scheme has shown is that you don´t need to tax plastic carrier bags to reduce the number being used,” says Councillor Joe Armstrong, the committee chairman. “The big stores are queuing up to get on board with the sort of thing we are doing in Durham.”