Supermarket giant Asda is planning to scrap binning its 5p carrier bags in favour of bags for life to reduce the amount of plastic they produce.
The firm, which has a superstore in Arnold, will phase out single use bags over the course of this year.
Asda also pledged to reduce the amount of plastic in its Own Brand products by 10 per cent over the next 12 months.
Unveiling a raft of measures the supermarket will introduce, Asda’s CEO Roger Burnley said: “We will phase out single-use carrier bags during 2018 in favour of Bags for Life.”
He added that Asda will continue to donate profits from these sturdier, reusable, bags to good causes.
Other changes announced today include switching the 2.4m plastic straws used in its cafes annually to paper and getting rid of the polystyrene boards used to protect pizza bases in favour of cardboard, which Asda says will eliminate 178 tonnes of plastic each year.
They also pledged to replace coloured drinks bottles with clear plastic, which will lead to 500 tonnes more plastic being recycled every year.