Review of progress on carrier reduction

In February 2007, 21 of the UK's leading high street and grocery retailers reached an agreement with the UK Governments to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25 % by the end of 2008. WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), the waste advisory body agreed to take the initiative forward, bringing retailers and government together, collecting data and monitoring progress.

Today, one year on, WRAP hosted a meeting of Government and retailers to review progress in 2007, report actions that have been taken by the retailers to reach the target and to identify which initiatives are delivering results. WRAP reported to the meeting that based on the data supplied by retailers, interim results indicate a 14% reduction in the environmental impact of carrier bags as measured by the use of virgin plastic. The total number of bags used by the signatories has reduced by 1 billion bags from 13.4 billion to 12.4 billion.

However, performance has been very variable, with retailers reporting activity ranging from a 70% reduction in virgin plastic use to an increase of 22% in one case. We are also disappointed that there has not been more progress on the actual number of bags reduced. Therefore, while the 14% reduction achieved is broadly on track to reach the overall target by the end of the year, there is clearly no room for complacency.

WRAP also reported on the most popular retailer initiatives to reduce the amount of virgin plastic used in carrier bags, which included the following; incentive card point schemes, promotion of re-useable bags, bags dispensed and bagged by cashier only, the introduction of in-store carrier bag recycling facilities which have increased by 43%, reduced bag size and the introduction of bags with increased recycled content.

WRAP's Director of Retail, Richard Swannell, who chaired the meeting, said: "WRAP wants to see a substantial reduction in the environmental impact of free single use carrier bags. Today's meeting and recent developments show that there is now clear momentum from retailers although clearly more work needs to be done. The carrier bag agreement between retailers and Government is highlighting valuable examples of ways forward, such as the maximum reuse of carrier bags, the widespread adoption of bags for life and the use of recycled content in bags. These initiatives are helping to encourage us all to do things differently and think about alternatives to free carrier bags".