What do supermarkets do with the bags for life?

KittyBoo_2

What happens when you take one of those 10p carrier bags back to the supermarket to get another?
Does anyone know what happens to them?
I use the hessian type bags but a few of my friends use the Bag for Life and we were chatting about it the other day.

kidcat

I always assumed that they recycled them but when I exchanged one at Asda the other day she put it straight into the bin.

paulwf

At M&S we put them in a carrier bag recycling box. At the till point they may go in the small bin under the till but at the end of the day they will get removed from that when the rubbish is bagged up.

Bags for life aren't as good as stronger bags (mine last about 6 months compared for up to 10 years with a rucksack) but they can fold up into a tiny space so are great for increasing capacity when you buy extra. I think most retailers now display their stronger bags prominently, really bags for life should just be a part not the whole solution.

DCFC79

As far as i know they get recycled

babyshoes

It says on the bag that it gets recycled - but how much do you trust your retailer? Some, like M&S, almost certainly do recycle them, but I wouldn't trust our local Tescos to bother, given the attitude of many of their staff!

Helix

We recycle them in Sainsburys. They may get shoved under the till when you hand them over as thats the easiest thing to do at the time but at the end of the day they all get put in the bag recycling bin.

foxgloves

You might like this little story. A few years ago, we spent Christmas in the village I grew up. I decided to take my husband on a walk to show him all the fields we played in, etc, and down by the river in one of the fields we found a bench made out of something which wasn't wood or metal or....well, we didn't know what it was & it was great to see a plaque on it which said it was donated by Waitrose and made from their recycled bags for life.

TenerC_2

i`d like to know why they don`t make then as strong as they used to, found an old asda one in the shed last week, so on a shop took it to get changed (as it only had 1 handle) got the new one a lot thinner and when we got home it had been torn by a box corner, waste of time, but will take it back next time to get replaced.

KittyBoo_2

foxgloves wrote: »

You might like this little story. A few years ago, we spent Christmas in the village I grew up. I decided to take my husband on a walk to show him all the fields we played in, etc, and down by the river in one of the fields we found a bench made out of something which wasn't wood or metal or....well, we didn't know what it was & it was great to see a plaque on it which said it was donated by Waitrose and made from their recycled bags for life.

That's great.
What a good way to re-cycle them.