Sainsbury's rejects bag charging

Sainsbury's shoppers will get one store point for every bag reused from June

Sainsbury's does not believe charging for plastic bags is the way to achieve lasting environmental benefits, the supermarket's chief executive has said.

Justin King said customers should not be forced to make a decision they did not fully understand and needed help to reduce, reuse and recycle instead.

Customers who reused bags would be rewarded with store points, he said.

The move follows a Budget announcement that charges on bags will be introduced if retailers do not reduce their use.

Some 13 billion plastic bags are given free to UK shoppers every year, but campaigners say they are damaging the environment.

The supermarket chain has pledged to halve the number of disposable plastic bags used by customers over the next year.

My experience tells me that customers don't want to be forced to make a change, especially where they can't see a clear reason why Sainsbury's boss on sustainability

It also promised to make bags using 50% recycled content by June this year. Currently its carrier bags are 33% recycled content and 10% chalk.

Trials will also be carried out to change customers' behaviour to encourage customers to limit and reuse bags, and recycle them once they are too old.

From May, Marks and Spencer will charge its food shoppers 5p for every plastic bag used, with the money raised going to an environmental charity.

Supermarket Tesco, which does not charge for plastic bags, already offers extra loyalty card points to customers who re-use bags.