When it comes to reducing carbon foot-prints, some businesses can struggle to identify which aspects of their operation need attention. This is not a problem retailers face. The disposable supermarket carrier bag has become an icon of wasteful consumption over recent years. Unfortunately, it is such an integral part of the UK shopping experience that eradicating the problem is not going to be an easy task.
In 2006, the bigger players began to tackle the issue in earnest. The Government, working with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) set targets to reduce packaging by 2008, an initiative to which all the major retailers signed up. And last year some retailers introduced measures to encourage a reduction in carrier bag use.
But now even more drastic legislation is looming with London Councils - a body representing 33 London authorities - preparing legislation that will outlaw the free distribution of plastic carrier bags in the capital.
The days of the single-use plastic carrier are numbered. The challenge for retailers lies in carrying the goodwill of customers while weaning them off of a diet of free bags. Not surprisingly there are big differences in the approaches retailers are taking.
Tesco has chosen to go down the incentive route, incorporating rewards for customers who reuse their plastic carrier bags into its Clubcard scheme. The company believes that entrenched customer behaviour will only be changed if customers are rewarded for adopting new practices. "We prefer the carrot to the stick and don't believe in coercing our customers," a Tesco spokesman says. "Taxing the hell out of free bags or banning them does not allow customers to make the decision for themselves. If you motivate people to do something they have the option to say 'yes, that's a good idea, I'd like to buy into it'."
Of the 17.5 billion free bags distributed in the UK in 2006, Tesco accounted for four billion. In August of that year, the company set itself the target of reducing the figure by one billion, a reduction it has now achieved.
Marks & Spencer launched a £200m environmental strategy action plan, Plan A, in January 2007. This set a number of targets for the company to hit, including reducing the number of plastic bags it issues by one third as well as adhering to the WRAP targets which call for a 20 per cent reduction over two years.
Unlike Tesco, the company has used a little more stick than carrot with customers. A trial that began in Northern Ireland in July levied a charge of five pence on every carrier bag taken. To soften the blow customers were issued with a number of free bags for life in the month running up to the trial. All money raised from sales of bags was invested back into local environmental regeneration projects.
A bag is for life
Despite this apparently punitive measure, customers responded positively and the trial has yielded impressive results. "We saw a 66 per cent reduction in the number of bags issued in the first 16 weeks of the trial and three-quarters of customers began to bring alternative solutions to carry their shopping, such as bags for life," says a spokeswoman. There are now plans to introduce the scheme to the mainland, where it will be rolled out across 33 stores in the southwest.
However, M&S denies it is taking a stick to its customers: "Customers want to make changes and we are on this journey together. We just hope that this will make them think about whether they really need six carrier bags every time they shop."
One of the most high profile initiatives on this front was Sainsbury's sale of a reusable carrier bag that had been created by designer Anya Hindmarch. Around 20,000 of these "designer"bags quickly sold out in April generating acres of coverage.
Impressive though the Hindmarch promotion was, Sainsbury's believes that it's awareness-raising "Make a difference" days have had a greater impact."We held three of these days this year, giving away 15 million bags for life which in turn have resulted in a 44 per cent increase in sales of these bags," says Sainsbury's carrier bag buyer Beverley Whitfield. The retailer had been issuing 1.7 billion disposable bags a year but the figure has dropped by ten per cent over the past six months as a result of its environmental initiatives.
The big retail chains usually have the benefit of regular customers whose behaviour may be modified over time. The challenge facing smaller retailers is of a different order. "Convenience stores often cater for transient shoppers who make impulse purchases and who probably don't have a carrier bag with them," says James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores. "However, set against this, plastic bags do cost retailers a lot of money so, if they didn't have to hand them out for free, they could make savings."
Climate for change
Whatever the solutions adopted by individual retailers, all the signs suggest that change is inevitable. The London Councils' bill will soon receive a first reading in Parliament and proponents of the scheme are adamant that it is just what the capital needs.
"The average disposable carrier bag is used for just 40 minutes then thrown away," says a London Councils spokesman. "We can't criminalise the use of bags, but we hope this legislation will help to make London a more sustainable city."
It is still unclear as to what form the final legislation will take but there are already rumblings from the Government that similar measures could be introduced on a national level. This hard line has brought results in overseas markets.
Natalie Berg, grocery research manager at analyst Planet Retail says: "When Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags five years ago, within three months there had been a 90 per cent reduction in the number of bags used. Only a regulatory change can encourage a change in the consumer mindset in the UK."
Despite the best efforts of retailers to provide customers with a reason to change their behaviour, it may well be that these incentives are doomed to failure and that legislation could be the only way to stop the planet being buried under an avalanche of plastic bags.
LONDON SAYS IT HAS HAD ITS FILL OF PLASTIC BAGS
London Councils began its initiative to abolish plastic carrier bags during summer 2007 with a debate on the issue of recycling plastic bags. This was followed by a six-week public consultation.
The online element of the consultation attracted 1,752 respondents with a further 100 emails and 270 letters received. Industry and environmental and government bodies were also consulted. Of the online respondents, 91.5 per cent supported the organisation's proposal to introduce a levy or total ban on disposable shopping bags in the capital. The resulting private bill will get its first reading in Parliament in January with London Councils estimating that it will take 18 months to clear parliament and pass into law.
One of the issues to be resolved is the level of charge that could be levied on bags. The scale of penalty charges faced by those breaking the law could be calculated based on the size of the business concerned.
A CHANGE AT TESCO IS ON THE CARDS
Research carried out by Tesco in early 2006 identified carrier bags as a key environmental concern for its customers. It also showed that forcing customers to reuse bags would not be well received. It was therefore decided to reward recycling by awarding Clubcard points.
There are 13 million Clubcard customers with Clubcard scanned on 74 per cent of all Tesco sales. The scheme was scheduled for a six-week trial in June 2006, but this was scrapped two months later in favour of a national roll-out.
The initiative was backed by a £2.5 million advertising campaign and mailings to the 13 million Clubcard holders offering a free bag for life. During the first 20 weeks of the scheme the number of bags issued fell by 15 per cent.
Tesco's research also found that the retailer has overtaken Waitrose as the grocery retailer that more customers perceive as acting in an environmentally friendly way.