Lidl UK To Stop Selling Single-use Plastic Carrier Bags 1st July 2017

The UK’s fastest growing supermarket over the last year, Lidl UK, has pledged today to remove single-use plastic carrier bags from sale across all stores in England, Wales and Scotland from 1st July 2017 onwards.

The move away from single-use carrier bags demonstrates Lidl’s commitment to reduce unnecessary plastic waste, underlining the company’s understanding of the importance of a future without single-use carrier bags for retailers and shoppers alike, also helping to strongly discourage consumers from a single use, throw-away mind-set.

The pledge, designed to dramatically reduce levels of plastic carrier bag wastage across the UK, will save an estimated 63million plastic bags per year – the equivalent of 760 tons of plastic.

The initiative comes less than a year after the introduction of a Government levy on plastic bags from large stores in England, and underlines Lidl’s pledge to encourage a change in consumer attitudes. Lidl has always been very conscious of its responsibilities as a major retailer, and as the UK supermarket to have always charged for carrier bags, it has long held the ambition of encouraging shoppers to be more environmentally minded in opting for reusable carrier bags.

Ryan McDonnell, commercial director of Lidl UK, said: “Our pledge to stop selling single-use carrier bags is all about promoting a more environmentally friendly alternative. It will directly encourage shoppers to think about sustainability, and the role they can play in reducing unnecessary plastic waste. The levy introduced by the Government last year was an important start, and as a responsible retailer, we see it as our role to invest in a sustainable future and to bring our customers on that journey with us.”