Overpriced paper and plastic bags at supermarkets

[ladykale]

In the uk we’ve reached a point where everyday price gouging and rip offs have been normalised.

10p plastic bags were supposedly introduced for the environment - yet even piece of fruit and veg is wrapped in unnecessary plastic!

now stores such as M&S charge you 40p for a paper bag that can barely stay intact to hold a bag of shopping, then 80p if you actually need a plastic bag that won’t disintegrate in the rain

absolutely ridiculous!

I live their bag for life style ones with both the short & long handles- brilliant design.

Agree with OP that it feels like supermarkets are just using the charges to top up their margins. I’m sure the 40p charge is way higher than the actual cost to them of providing the bags, and I say that as someone who works in the industry.

Not necessarily a bad thing to make you think twice about using a bag if you are put off by the cost, but Luke all items they sell, they will be looking to optimise profit.

Have you ever stopped to consider the HUGE environmental cost of manufacturing paper bags?

From Google:

The UK started charging for carrier bags in England on October 5, 2015, when large retailers (over 250 employees) had to charge 5p for single-use plastic bags, following similar charges already in place in Wales (2011), Northern Ireland (2013), and Scotland (2014). The charge in England later increased to 10p for all businesses from May 2021

so for 11 years the large retailer have been charging, so it shouldn't be a surprise to use to have to pay for a bag.

Usually it is a ' bag for life ' that is offered.

yes the cost has gone up, they seem to be 40p in most supermarkets: Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Lidl, and Aldi,

I believe Morrisons is 50p and 50p for a ' reuseable ' bag in the Co Op

I have a bag for life in every coat / jacket pocket and two in my handbag, along with 2 fold up fabric shopping bags in my handbag.
so I am never ' caught out ' and when I actually go supermarket shopping I have plenty of proper shopping bags that I take with me.

I have two recycled sari bags from Oxfam in my handbag. They are washable, strong and hold as much shopping as I can carry. I maybe pay for one supermarket bag a year.

Agree with op, initially it was supposedly to do with plastic waste and the profits were to go to charities. Now there is no mention of charities but the price has increased massively in percentage terms. Also the hypocrisy of 'plastic'. If this was the reason, surely the paper bags should be much cheaper? But Morrison's and M&S are something like 60p, and Primark have also started charging.

You don't have to buy bananas, apples and peppers wrapped in plastic. All the big supermarkets sell them loose. You can take your own bag, weight the loose items and tip them in your bag.

Also - you can go to the deli/meat/cheese/fish counter with your own tupperware box and ask them to put your item in that rather than new plastic or pre wrapped stuff.

There's also the option to shop in local shops and markets - money into your local economy, very little plastic wrapping and the food I buy at my local market/shops/stalls is always cheaper and always better than supermarket mass produced food.

I don't mind them putting up the price of bags.
I wish they'd make them prohibitively expensive. Then perhaps all the 'oops I'm a twat who can't carry a small bag with me' people will give themselves a talking too.

All of those fruits are in plastic. It’s cheaper

I don't mind paying for a bag
I have plenty that I dont tend to need to but what I really do mind is when I am paying for it they are arguably profiting and I'm also promoting their name splashed all over the bag.

They still do this

Its just another adult blaming everyone else instead of taking responsibility for there own actions

Agreed. And as a pp said, M&S are terrible with all their plastic packaging.

I’ve not needed to buy a bag in a shop for absolute years op! Always have something with me

that’s the point to stop you buying them at all

I volunteer in a charity shop and we sell paper bags for 40p. Apparently the charity only makes 1p per bag. We don't sell many.
As others have said take your own bag

Have you considered that NO actually, we don't all have local grocery shops or markets? Shocking j know, people live in different environments. I actually live in a large village which is semi rural (but increasing being surrounded by housing estates melding all the villages & housing estates into one massive area instead of our clearly defined villages) but we don't have a greengrocers anymore, nor a market. Both nearest ones are over 20 miles away, parking is very very limited & expensive as is the produce.

the local farm shop has been expanded into a gourmet cafe & lovely shop, but the prices are eye watering, including the vegetables (which incidentally they buy in then market to look like they grow them)

Our charity shop just reuses bags you give to them. It's a win/win.

Get a couple of the silky fabric fold up bags that have a little pouch. I have about three so I always have one squidged into my bag or gym bag when I go out.

I agree we should all be taking our own bags, which I do for food, but does anyone for clothes shopping?

But, I also agree it's all a nonsense when everything I put in the bag I took with me is wrapped in plastic. Where are the measures to "incentivise" shops away from that?

Any yes, what's with what's for paper bags? That was never what it was supposed to be about.

You still do in Sainsburys.

I save the plastic parcel wrapping from by online shopping. I cut my home label off then cut seams.

I only have a couple of fabric bags. Because my plastic bags for life are definitely not good enough for clothing.

Assume you have a local supermarket though where they do sell loose fruit and veg. It's normally cheaper to buy it that way.

I live in a small market town but have lived in everything from a small Cornish village to Tokyo, so I'm not terribly shocked that people live in different environments.

take your own. I take a robust fold-down plastic box and a couple of bags for life that i've acquired over the years.

It's not rocket science, is it?

This. Just bring your own, not difficult.

german shops are required to have recycling points where shoppers can put unnecessary packaging, also any shop that sells batteries must have a battery recycling point. People are pretty good at taking their own bags and boxes.

There is an increasing move for fruit & veg to be sold loose and people take mesh bags to put them in, or just weigh them without a bag (we tend to have weighing points and you print your own price label) and just give the label to the cashier.

When i visit my mum and do her shopping in UK i have been known to follow up with a complaint about all the packaging of fruit and veg.

I try to always have a tote or bag for life on me, or in the car.
I agree with a PP that the M and S paper bags are very sturdy.
Primark, despite only holding clothes- I’m not filling them with potatoes or tins of soup- don’t seem to survive a trip across the car park! They rip so easily.