THE Co-op has seen a significant drop in shopping bag sales in the past six months as customers ‘adapt’ to new legislation designed to reduce plastic usage.
The community retailer has said it is selling nearly 7,000 fewer bags a week, following the introduction of Single Use Plastics Law in July last year – which meant Islanders could no longer receive single-use carrier bags with their purchases.
Under the law, shops, traders and restaurants are also required to charge at least 70 pence for any reusable bags that they issue.
Carl Winn, the head of community and sustainability at the Channel Islands Co-op, said: ‘Based on a weekly average comparison since the change in the law, we are now selling nearly 7,000 fewer bags a week.
‘It is good to see that our customers and members have adapted to the change. But ultimately, we are proud that it is our environment which is benefitting from less plastic polluting our beaches and countryside. There is still more to do and our new reusable bags which we have recently introduced will further help to reduce our plastic consumption.’
A six-month ‘using up’ period – which allowed traders to get through any non-compliant bags they had in stock at the time – ended on Saturday [21 January].
A spokesman for SandpiperCI, which operates franchises including Morrisons Daily, Iceland and Costa in Jersey, said the new 70p charge had reduced the company’s plastic bag usage by 60%.
