Tesco is trialling getting rid of 5p plastic bags

Former_MSE_Andrea · 25 May 2017 at 12:02PM

Hi all

Tesco is trialling removing 5p plastic bags from its stores (it will still be selling its 10p bags for life). The trial will be in just three stores for now - Aberdeen, Dundee and Norwich - and will last 10 weeks.

What do you think? It's 18 months or so since the plastic bag charge came in. Have you got used to bringing your bags for life in anyway and not needed a plastic bag for a while? Or are they useful eg for bagging frozen food or double-bagging something heavy? Do you live near one of the stores? Have you heard someone complain?

jon81uk · 25 May 2017 at 2:30PM

Its felt like Asda were doing this anyway, they had bags for life for 6p (or maybe 8p) and kept the 5p bags very well hidden.
Sainsbury's got rid of single use bags and have a cheaper version of a bag for life for 5p.

I think what Tesco is doing is probably a good idea, I almost always have a bag and if I don't have a bag then I am often only buying 3 items (meal deal) and will just carry them. A friend got a single use bag for his meal deal and then binned it after lunch, seemed a waste of 5p to me.

2childmum · 25 May 2017 at 6:39PM

I thought the money from the 5p bags was going to charity. If the supermarkets do away with that and only sell their own Bags for Life then they are going to be making a profit, rather than the money continuing to go to charity.

Enterprise_1701C · 25 May 2017 at 7:27PM

I personally have never bought a bag.

I started saving carriers seriously a year before the new rule came in, when bags for life started my son worked at Tesco so ended up with a few, and they gave a few away to customers too. As they are bags for life I get them exchanged when they wear out.

Also, we go to trade exhibitions, they are very useful for canvas bags and other fabric ones.

I think I have a lifetime's supply of bags, and I always keep a fold up one in my handbag, and one in my coat pocket.

To make sure I take a large one with me it lives in the dining room and I have to walk past it on the way to the front door.

cheekyweegit · 25 May 2017 at 9:55PM

I think there are 8 Tesco's in various connotations in Dundee (metro, extra etc), is it any particular one ?

Oh and I think there is a distinct lack of re-usable / nice looking bags for life for guys, does anyone agree? I did manage to find a small burgundy one in Matalan which my son does use / carry in his back pack but I'd looked for ages and really struggled.

Clowance · 26 May 2017 at 7:00AM

Well I am very forgetful (its my age I think) and therefore often forget the bags even on a weekly shop (they are in the boot), therefore having to buy bags, didn't know they still did the flimsy ones though. I always minimise bag use as a result, and have a massive collection of bags for life (which i forget to exchange when broken!)
Its not deliberate!

Eenymeeny · 27 May 2017 at 11:39AM

cheekyweegit wrote: »

I think there are 8 Tesco's in various connotations in Dundee (metro, extra etc), is it any particular one ?

Oh and I think there is a distinct lack of re-usable / nice looking bags for life for guys, does anyone agree? I did manage to find a small burgundy one in Matalan which my son does use / carry in his back pack but I'd looked for ages and really struggled.

I agree with you on the lack of plain bags, am I the only one who doesn't like to carry bags that don't match with my outfit?

(or carry an advert?)
OH has an aversion to flowered shopping bags too! I find the Ikea nylon carrier bags (Knalla) inoffensive and we keep one of their nylon backpacks in the boot for carbooting trips. HTH

I reckon there should be a charity box at the checkout so you can place your 5p straight in if you choose to buy a bag. How do we know where the money goes otherwise?

Art_Deco · 27 May 2017 at 6:27PM

Wasnt it said that a shop couldnt charge you for a bag if it had the shops name on as you were free advertising for them ? or did i dream that.

jenniewb · 28 May 2017 at 4:43AM

I buy the 5p bags and use them for my bins; if you look at the price for a paid for bin liner, (the ones which wont split in half) they cost more. I pay 5p for a bag, I use the bag once or twice and then use for a bin.

I don't get through enough to have a big bin, but my flat is very humid and food debris goes bad quickly (not thrown away food, but things like peelings of vegetables/fruit, juices in the container from fish, chicken or meat...etc), I have worked out over the years that once the weather goes beyond 10 degrees, I have to throw away the bins every day or risk coming home to a room of flies (windows have to stay ajar or I get damp).

If there are no 5p bags, I suppose I'll have to weigh up if it costs less to buy bin liners or use the 10p bags as bin liners.
Why can't they just sell the old biodegradeable plastic 5p bag type for bin liners? I'd feel less bad about throwing it away then!

DigForVictory · 28 May 2017 at 7:53AM

I buy plastic vest carrier bags from either a market stall or ebay (depending on how many the lads have gone through, but I feel a bit done if I pay over tuppence a bag) for rubbish & try to have bags for life in the car.

The chaps don't appear to have too many sensitivities over bags for life, but one picked out a Morrisons lemon one as he liked the design - i showed him how to fold it onto a flat square shape & I think it's still in his coat pocket. (Not investigating!)

I'll not ask why Tesco are considering abandoning the 5p bags, as I enjoy the variety of their bags for life at present & anyway have an embarrassing number to "exchange" should I ever get them sorted by state & store, ahem.
Perhaps a half term diversion for The Candidates - find every used bag for life & put in one room...

so_very_confused · 29 May 2017 at 4:44AM

I like the 5p bags as often I will pop in for one item and find I need a few more. This does not require a bag for life and I object to paying for something I don't need.

Tesco is trialling getting rid of 5p plastic bags

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