From tomorrow, October 5th, large shops will have to charge you 5p for every carrier bag you use. Here's your guide to how the rules work.
Items considered a health or safety risk are exempt, including raw meat, razor blades and flower bulbs, and shops with fewer than 250 members of staff don't have to charge unless they want to.
Which stores do the rules apply to?
Any business that sells or delivers goods. However, retailers with fewer than 250 members of full-time staff nationwide don’t have to charge unless they wish to do so.
Which types of bags are being charged for?
Any unused, plastic bags which have handles and are 70 microns thick or less. Sealed packaging isn’t covered by the charge.
Which items will I still get a free bag for?
Uncooked fish and fish products Uncooked meat, poultry and their products Unwrapped food for eating - such as chips or food sold in containers that might leak Unwrapped loose seeds, flowers, bulbs, corns, rhizomes (roots, stems and shoots, so that includes ginger) or goods contaminated by soil Unwrapped blades, including axes, knives, and knife and razor blades Prescription medicine Live aquatic creatures in water
So can I just put a steak in each bag and get it for free?
No. If even one non-exempt item is placed in the bag, cashiers must charge 5p.
What about supermarket online shopping?
You will be charged for the bags your shopping is delivered in. Most supermarkets are introducing a flat charge of around 40p per delivery, but some, like Ocado, will refund you for each bag you return.
What else is exempt?
Bags from shops in airports, or on board trains, aeroplanes or ships Items considered as sealed packaging for mail order and click-and-collect orders Returnable multiple reuse bags (bags for life) - although these are usually charged for anyway Bags given to you containing free promotional material Bags used for a service where there’s no sale of goods e.g. dry cleaning, shoe repairs
The 250 employees bit seems odd. What difference does that make? So you could have 5 shops each employing 50 people or very small shops each with 3 employees but lots of outlets and they'd both have to charge, and then a one off very large store with 249 people could give them free. Seems bloomin' silly.
I don't shop very often now but if I did I would need a lot of bags as I can't lift them if they have much weight in. Cost me a fortune that would!
I don't see why I should pay for bags for my online shop. The supermarket chooses to use them and not me. I think on some online deliveries you can opt out of them using bags. I only do one bulk online shop a month but they use dozens of bags. Usually with the handles tied in a knot so you can't reuse the buggas anyway!!
Post by Berry McPaper-cuts on Oct 5, 2015 6:44:03 GMT
Tesco give you a choice so I changed to a no bag delivery. They are very good because now my ankle means I can't move at speed the drivers being the heavy green boxes into the kitchen for me if Mr FP is absent.( Cava bottles.) What does concern me is clothes you buy going into non too clean bags - what if the clothes end up damaged ? What happens about that Mim in Wales- do you get a bag with clothes or provide your own?
What happens in a no-bag delivery? Tesco deliver here every week with about ten crates of groceries. The carrier bags are then kept in a tube as people do use them for things. But without carrier bags I suppose your shopping would just be loose in one if those green boxes?
Post by Berry McPaper-cuts on Oct 5, 2015 7:37:02 GMT
This week there was one bag delivered but I can't remember what was in it it - probably chilled stuff .I expect if they substitute they would put it in a bag so they could pick it out easily if you reject it. Everything else was in the green box. Years ago I had Safeway green boxes which I took with me to do the shop which were great. In fact we still have two green Safeway boxes storing stuff in the garage.
Tesco give you a choice so I changed to a no bag delivery. They are very good because now my ankle means I can't move at speed the drivers being the heavy green boxes into the kitchen for me if Mr FP is absent.( Cava bottles.) What does concern me is clothes you buy going into non too clean bags - what if the clothes end up damaged ? What happens about that Mim in Wales- do you get a bag with clothes or provide your own?
You have to pay for a bag whatever you buy, clothes or otherwise. They usually ask you at the till if you want a bag. I don't mind forking out 5p for a carrier bag if I haven't got one on me, or I've left it in the car door compartment -which is often the case. I bought some tough trolley shopping bags on eBay for food shopping. I used to have a large Ikea bag which was perfect but I never got that back from 30 when she borrowed it.
Edit: I must admit it still feels strange to walk out of an out of town shop like M&S with clothes over my arm if I've forgotten to bring a bag. Must make security guards wonder, but I haven't been stopped yet.
I really like the Bags for Life, took me a while to remember to take them out of the car but it's automatic now. It's so much easier to pack in them, wish we'd had them years ago. I carry a fold-up one in my handbag for other shopping.