Asda today (23 April) announced a ten-week pilot scheme to encourage people to reduce their use of carrier bags.
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The UK’s second largest supermarket chain has said that, if they prove popular enough, so-called ‘bag free checkouts’ could become a feature of all its stores.
Shoppers who do not use a bag when shopping at Asda will be rewarded with ‘green goodies for schools’ vouchers. Schools will be able to exchange these for various items, including aluminium can crushers, bug hotels, ant farms, DIY greenhouses, papermaking kits, and model wind turbines. The vouchers are given to everyone who shops and does not use a bag – their distribution is not linked to how much consumers spend in store.
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By GlobalDataDuring the ten-week trial, the company will also allow customers to swap old carrier bags, which will be recycled, for ‘bags for life’.
Claire Costello, Asda’s anti-bags tsar said: “It’s simply not sustainable to keep throwing away billions of bags each year. That’s why we want our customers to change the habit of a lifetime. If you bring back five old bags, we’ll give you a free bag for life and if you resist the temptation to take any new bags we’ll give you green vouchers for your local school.”
