Morrisons reintroduces paper bags to cut down on plastic waste

Supermarket chain Morrisons will be reintroducing brown paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables, in order to help reduce the approximately 150 million small plastic bags used annually by Morrisons customers.

The bags are made from 100% recyclable paper and will have a see-through paper strip so that customers and staff can identify the produce. It will come in one size and can be used for any loose fruit, vegetables and salad items.

Drew Kirk, fruit and veg director at Morrisons, said: “We’ve listened to customers concerns about using plastic bags for fruit and vegetables and that is why we are bringing back paper bags.

“There’s more work to do, but this step will mean we prevent 150 million bags from being used in our stores every year.”

UDPATE: Emma Cunningham, senior pollution campaigns officer at Marine Conservation Society, told Retail Sector: “It’s great news that Morrisons is phasing out plastic bags for their fruit and veg, but we would ask people to really think ‘do I even need one in the first place, even if it is paper’?

“We don’t want to encourage businesses to switch from one single use item to another, we are trying to reduce litter not create more. Whilst paper has better biodegradability, in terms of how long it lasts in the environment,  every bag, paper, plastic or reusable, has an environmental impact so we would still encourage people to use their own reusable containers or just pop your fruit and veg loose in your trolley.”