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7 million plastic bags saved by local Co-op Customers
Archived article dated Monday January 5th 2009
The East of England Co-op's initiative to reduce the number of plastic carrier bags handed out in its food stores across East Anglia has proved a huge success.
The Society took the decision to stop giving away free plastic bags in all its food stores and petrol forecourts in September.
Every week since the start of the initiative, over half a million plastic carrier bags have been saved from clogging up the region's landfill sites and polluting the environment. In only three months, more than 7 million plastic bags have been saved, equating to over 28 million bags in a full year.
Richard Samson, Chief Executive of the East of England Co-operative Society said: “This just shows what can be done through co-operation with our customers. We were hoping that we could achieve an ambitious reduction in the order of 75% to 80%, but with a fantastic effort from our store colleagues right across East Anglia, we've easily beaten that figure with an 84% reduction overall”
UK retailers hand out an estimated 13 billion free plastic bags every year and Mr Samson added: “Whilst we're proud to be leading the way on this important issue, our food store competitors appear to be hanging back, with promises to cut plastic bag usage by up to 50% by next spring. There's no doubt that we could not have achieved such a big reduction in carrier bag usage without the support of our customers, which has been tremendous and our thanks go to them for their co-operation.
“But plastic bags remain a big problem right across the country and although our customers have clearly demonstrated that there's a willingness to tackle the issue right now, it does require a genuine lead from their local supermarket or convenience store operator. We look forward to seeing other major retailers following our example on this sooner rather than later.”
Tagged as: co op | plastic bags | waste | landfill | responsible retailing
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