Boots has become the latest retailer to move away from offering customers plastic bags for their shopping.
From today, the health & beauty retailer has moved to unbleached (brown) recyclable paper carrier bags as standard in 53 of its stores. It is also adopting unbleached paper bags for dispensing pharmacy orders.
The retailer plans to roll-out the paper bags to all its 2,485 stores by early 2020, removing over 900 tonnes of plastic from Boots store operations each year.
Seb James, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director of Boots UK, commented: “Plastic waste is undoubtedly one of the most important issues around the world today with TV shows like Blue Planet highlighting the effects of plastic pollution.
“This year, we are transforming Boots as we celebrate 170 years, and the move to unbleached paper bags is another pivotal moment in that journey. There is no doubt that our customers expect us to act and this change signifies a huge step away from our reliance on plastic.”
Customers will be able purchase a small, medium or large paper carrier bag for 5p, 7p, or 10p. All profits will be donated to Boots long-term charity partner BBC Children in Need.
Other retailers, such as Morrisons, have begun introducing paper bags, while Waitrose recently started testing a new initiative that gives shoppers the option of buying food, drink and cleaning products in refillable containers.
