| Offtake of plastic carrier bags by Tesco customers last month totalled just 200 million, a 40% drop on the figure for the corresponding month of 2006, when 350 million were picked up.
The company attributes the fall to the impact of its Green Clubcard scheme under which shoppers typically receive 2 or 3 reward points for not using new bags.
Since the scheme was introduced in August 2006, the distribution of plastic bags is down by some 2 billion, Tesco reported in a statement yesterday.
“We have helped our customers cut bag use by 40% without a bag tax adding to the cost of their weekly shop. In fact, our Green Clubcard scheme helps people save on their shopping bags,” said Lucy Neville-Rolfe, the retailer’s corporate and legal affairs director.
The first 1 billion bag reduction took 14 months, she noted, while the second billion bag cut was achieved in just nine months, “showing that the trend is rapidly gaining support.”
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