Co-op removing plastic ‘bags for life’ as many customers using them ‘just once’

The Co-Op is set to become the next supermarket chain to stop selling plastic 'bags for life' in stores

The supermarket rolled out compostable carrier bags to a number of stores back in 2018, but has now decided to go a step further to help the planet. The plastic bags will start to be removed from the supermarket's 2,600 stores as of today, Sky News reported. The Chief Executive of Co-op Food, Jo Whitfield, said: "Sales of single-use plastic carrier bags have dropped by more than 95% in England’s main supermarkets since the carrier bag charge was introduced. This is brilliant, but there’s always more that we can do." "That’s why we’re making big changes to our bag policy, by totally changing the way we approach plastic bags. Firstly, we’ll be removing all ‘Bags for Life’ from our stores." "At the same time we’re rolling out our certified compostable bags across all our stores from May. It’s a fantastic achievement and I hope it paves the way for positive change in other retailers." https://twitter.com/coopuk/status/1388039109399269377 This comes weeks after the supermarket chain Morrisons announced they were getting rid of plastic 'bags for life' and replacing them with strong paper bags. Whitfield explained: "Increased use of bags for life has led to a sharp rise in plastic use. "With over 1.5 billion bags sold each year by retailers, this remains a massive issue for our industry as many shoppers are regularly buying so-called bags for life to use just once and it's leading to a major hike in the amount of plastic being produced." The price of single-use plastic bags will soon rise from 5p to 10p in England.