Waitrose to remove all 5p single use carrier bags by March 2019

Waitrose & Partners is the latest supermarket to announce it will stop selling 5p ‘single-use’ carrier bags.

The chain says that by March 2019 customers will only have the option to buy a 10p ‘bag for life’ or other, “more sustainable” reusable bags.

It will also no longer sell plastic bags for customers to package loose fruit and vegetables, committing to replace them with a with a home compostable alternative by spring 2019.

Waitrose says the move, which is part of its wider sustainability plan, will save 134 million bags each year, which equates to a saving of 500 tonnes of plastic.

The firm says it is on target to achieve the removal of all takeaway coffee cups from its stores this autumn, a plege it made earlier in the year.

It has also pledged not to sell any own-label food in black plastic beyond 2019 and is committed to making all own-label packaging widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025.