to think retailers have some responsibity?

If they provided paper bags instead these are not subject to any new regulations - it is the shops themselves who won't go away from plastic and as usual us, the customer, who pay and increase their profits.

It drives me mad when I see people in Sainsburys putting a bunch of bananas into a plastic bag unless, of course they intend to eat the skins!

joelise Tesco deliver no-bag deliveries in great big blue plastic boxes and you take the groceries out and they take the box away. Simples!

I had to laugh though at the thought of the Tesco dot com person carrying armfuls of loose groceries up the stairs!

Paper bags still involve a use of resources and energy in making them.

The idea is to cut down on that.

I'm surprised that apparently even if retailers were to use paper bags, for clothes for example, then that too is subject to the same policy charge.

It's not a question of 'subsidising' the retailer's provision of packaging.

The policy's supposed to be helping the environment, and most retailers will be donating any payment they get for bags to charity (as happens in Wales and N. Ireland - probably Scotland too now).

I really don't understand why so many people are getting their knickers in a twist about this.

Good post, FarNorth!

Here is a link where you can give comments to Tesco.

https://www.tescocomments.com/se.ashx?s=2511374573735288

Jane10 you said Its simply not acceptable to me to have to subsidise the retailer`s provision of packaging.

When you get "free" bags the cost is passed to the customer anyway.

Surely it is the customer's responsibility to look after their new purchase, whether by bringing a bag or other container with them, or purchasing a bag. We have got used to buying in a carefree way and having bags thrust upon us with every purchase but we don't have a god-given right to continue doing that.

Anya That would be a good idea, but we live in a town house, so shopping has to be carried up to 1st & 2nd floors as well as the ground floor. granjura I think I will ask Tesco to send the shopping in fewer bags.

joelise you can opt for a bagless delivery from Tesco. It is on the order site.

It's about time we refused excess plastic packaging. I had a cucumber wrapped in polythene inside a cellophane packet yesterday. Complete overkill.

Nowadays I put most fruit and veg loose in my basket or trolley, and don't bother with the plastic bags they have hanging by those counters. But one day I'm going to summon up the courage to leave unneccessay wrappings at the till.

Has anyone done this yet?

I think we just need to get used to it, as we can't carry on using plastic and throwing it away at the rate we do. I'm afraid even biodegradable plastic bags are not very environmentally friendly - they are usually still made from oil just like non-biodegradable plastics, and they produce harmful greenhouse gases when breaking down in landfill (which takes years).

I agree that it is not unreasonable to expect items of clothing to be put in a bag, but these are often thick paper which looks so much more classy anyway. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the retailer to cover the cost of these.

At least the Tesco bags are biodegradable.

I used to hate supermarkets using brown paper carrier bags years ago, when I used to have to walk home in the rain with my mother carrying the shopping and the bottom of the bag would fall out. I can remember feeling like crying, I was so happy when plastic carriers became more common. However, many paper carriers had beautiful prints on them and few had advertising. I do remember being cross about having to walk around displaying just exactly where I had been shopping, and my mother used to always turn our shopping bags inside out.

Some rolls of biodegradable refuse sacks smell revolting, like stale tobacco. I wonder what they are made from.

Would it not be a good idea to feed these thoughts back to the retailer- same about excess packaging from Amazon, etc . if enough people wrote back that it is putting them off buying on line- the message might get through, eventually. Why can't they deliver in strong recycled cardboard boxes with a recycled cardboard liner which can be replaced in any stains or spills? And it would make much more sense for transporting too.

We have our shopping delivered by Tesco. Yesterday, in one bag was a single avocado, in another 2 packs of smoked salmo, in another a single bag of potatoes etc etc. we do send most of the bags back the following week, keeping a few back for using as bin liners. Why can't the person ( the chooser/ packer of the shopping ) have a little common sense & pack the goods in a more economical ( bag wise) way ? I put it down to laziness.

The ones in my link above are not made of maize

here it is again www.biodeg.org/faq/#1

I did not realise they were made of maize granjura (of course, they have to be made of something!).

I agree with your last paragraph.

And if you really really REALLY need a plastic bag they are 5p - which should go to charity! They haven't been abolished totally.

Here is a link which relates to Wales and what happens to those 5p charges here:
www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/11549245.YOUR_AM_WRITES__South_Wales_East_AM_Jocelyn_Davies/

Same here Deeda- I just cannot believe the number of bags some people use !!! madness.

Biodegradable bags are not the solution, as they are made with maize and it takes acres and acres of land, water, fertiliser, etc, to grow the crop.

Cloth bags take little space and can be washed regularly to put new clothes in. You just get used to it- once you stop wasting time complaining, lol ;) honest.

Like the ones in the link above.

What did we do before plastic?

Even for clothes? We already reuse food carrier bags. Shops should use paper or biodegradable plastic.

We have had to pay for plastic bags in this country for years (South Africa). It makes an enormous difference to the environment. Instead of chucking your bag away you reuse it until it ends up as a bin liner. It is irritating and you do feel resentful at having to pay for a bags - but it is the right thing to do and you do get used to it. Our country looks so much better without plastic bags fluttering from trees and fences.

Beat me to it Ana! Though when I asked in Sainburys this morning they said February!

FlicketyB (and others)

It is not happening in England until next October!

Brown paper carriers are great, - except when it rains. I once bought something in Primark in Exeter and by the time I queued for the bus home and then walked the half a mile to my house the carrier had completely disintigrated and all that was left was the garment in a soggy mess.
So now I take fold-up shopping bags every time I do any sort of shopping.

I was in M&S yesterday (Wednesday) and my (clothing) purchases were put in a bag. The assistant had a plentiful supply at her till.

I wonder what archaeologists of the future will think when they dig down and find our rubbish dumps.

Why can't retailers use this type of plastic?

www.biodeg.org/faq/#1