Latest news on carrier bags

Thank you!

By reusing your bags you've helped to halve the number of carrier bags we give away. That's great news for the environment.
 
We launched green Clubcard points in August 2006, and since then you've helped us save over 3 billion bags. In fact, our customers are now using 50% fewer carrier bags than they were before we launched.

The great news is that these savings have been brought about through incentives and rewards for customers who reuse their bags.

Helping you to re-use carrier bags
We’re making bagless deliveries!
Reusable bags
All our free carrier bags are now degradable
Reusing and recycling

Helping you to re-use carrier bags
Every time you re-use a carrier bag instead of getting a new one, you’re helping to make a difference. Our customers also said they’d like us to reward them for being a little greener. So, every time you re-use any bags, we’ll give you Green Clubcard Points. 

The more bags you re-use, the more points you’ll collect. It doesn’t matter what kind of bag it is. In fact it doesn’t even have to be a bag. Anything you want to use to get your shopping home is great with us, as long as it’s not a new plastic bag.

Bag free checkouts
In November we removed carrier bags from displays at tills, placing them out of view beneath the checkout. Our staff now offer carrier bags to customers who need them.

For most of us, using carrier bags is a habit of a lifetime: we want to help break it and we hope that by removing the bags from view we will encourage customers to think about their habits when shopping and become more used to bringing their own bags and therefore less reliant on carrier bags.

We’re making bagless deliveries!
We give our customers the option to have bagless Tesco.com deliveries. When you order your shopping with Tesco.com, you can choose to have it delivered without carrier bags. Instead, your groceries will be delivered in our green trays. And we’ll give you 1 Green Clubcard Point for every 10 items you order too. Find out more about bagless deliveries.

Reusable bags
We have recently extended our range of reusable bags with a greater choice of sizes and materials, including environmentally friendly jute and organic fairtrade cotton. The range includes our ‘Bag for Life’ which is made from recycled materials and available for just 9p. Whenever yours wears out, we'll replace it free of charge.

In summer 2008, we launched a range of reusable designer bags by Cath Kidston – a collectable set made from recycled plastic bottles. Last year’s Tesco Charity of the Year, Marie Curie Cancer Care, received a 50 pence donation for every bag sold – raising £450,000.

More on the Cath Kidston bags

All our free carrier bags are now degradable
In September 2006 all of our free carrier bags were made degradable. These break down in just 18 months without leaving anything that could harm the environment.

Reusing and recycling
Every year the UK gets through over 12 billion bags – that’s all of them, not just those from Tesco. Re-using them is the best way to reduce this number, as it avoids using up resources and energy to produce more bags. However, if your bags have worn out or you have lots of spare ones at home, you can take them to Tesco for recycling.

Most of our larger stores have carrier bag recycling bins. Every time you pop in for something, you can drop off all your old carriers too. Tesco.com delivery drivers will now collect all of your unwanted bags for recycling too. They’ll pick up all your plastic bags, not just Tesco ones.

Find out more about recycling here

We’ve also cut the size of our carrier bags for stores where larger bags aren’t really needed, like in Tesco Express stores.