Morrisons bins plastic in favour of brown paper bags for fruit and veg

Morrisons has joined the war against plastic waste waste by reintroducing paper bags for fruit and veg.

Brown paper bags for greengrocer areas of the supermarket have been introduced into 493 stores, and will be rolled out to the rest by the end of the summer.

The company has said it hopes the move will stop the use of more than 150 million small plastic bags each year, traditionally used to contain loose fruit and vegetables.

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.’

The new bags are made from 100% recyclable paper, and will have a see-through strip so customers and staff can easily see what is inside.

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Earlier this year the Government announced plans to extend the 5p plastic bag levy to all shops.

Environment secretary Michael Gove told Cabinet colleagues he was determined to tackle the nation’s ‘throwaway culture’.

The 5p levy on single-use plastic bags introduced in 2015 to cover major supermarkets and other large stores is now likely to be extended to thousands of smaller shops in towns and on housing estates across the country.