kernow

What made them stop doing that? I made use of them for all sorts of things!

Baron von Lotsov

And if they give you a free one then you might land yourself with a £200 bill going by their prices. Lets hope they stick to the letter of their law.
I'm sure they will.

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"A government big enough to supply you with everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have..."

Besoeker

Best reason for the demise of the plastic bag?

The Bear

I remember the days before free plastic bags when you had the option of BUYING a stout brown paper carrier bag, string handles, and reinforced holes that the string was tied through from shops.

They cost around 3 old pence each (probably around 20 new pence today using the "Mars" formulae) and were often used time and time again and since they folded neatly they could be easily stored and carried in a shopping bag.

The arrival of free plastic bags saw an end to them.

Personally I would welcome the return of the old Paper Carrier bag. Biodegradable, can be made from recycled materials, and so long as they didn’t get wet, a darned good idea.

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I am an old man. I have eaten much salt.

The Bear

Fire hazard, plus they are now sold by the stores to be recycled.

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I am an old man. I have eaten much salt.

Besoeker

Smith Anderson Packaging makes paper bags, 45 million a week according to their website. Treesaver was their brand name.
100% recycled printed paper bags, Smith Anderson Packaging

I don't know how long it will continue to do so, if it still does, nor how up to date the website is.

g hall

They have a compactor which then bales them for recycling

__________________
"That government is best which governs least."
"This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries".
"To be "matter of fact" about the world is to blunder into fantasy --and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful."

Britannist

I heard on Nick Ferrari's programme on LBC FM independent radio the other day that there have apparently been scenes of angry customers refusing to pay the 5 pence charge at some Marks and Spencer food hall check-outs.

I don't know if it is true - but I did hear that Tesco are to start charging for plastic carrier bags (given out at their check-outs) from next month.

Britannist

The photograph in your last posting to this thread, Besoeker, presumably shows what is claimed to be bits of plastic bags in a tree.

But that mess is not the fault of the plastic bag is it?

I would imagine that the majority of people re-use the plastics bags they get at supermarket check-outs as bin liners (me included).

If supermarkets start charging for check-out plastic bags all that will happen is that people will go to other shops to buy rolls of plastic bin liners instead. Extra expense for the consumer - and no reduction in plastic bag usage.

For many years the supermarket chain Kwiksave (many of its branches have now been taken over by Somerfield) never gave out plastic bags free - customers there (including me) accepted this because the prices at Kwiksave were very cheap (and probably still are for those who still have a Kwiksave branch near to them). Customers usually took in their own plastic bags.

What many customers will not find acceptable is certain supermarket chains charging for check-out plastic bags but not really cutting their prices to the extent that Kwiksave has done.

Britannist

The result of the ludicrous anti-plastic bag campaign could well be more trees being cut down than ever before to make paper bags.

And - if plastic bags charges are introduced at more superrmarket check-outs or plastic bags are banned from supermarkets - the petro-chemical by-product used to make plastic bags will just go to waste.

Not what I would call sensible environmentalism.