Tesco scrap 5p levy on customers’ plastic bags

Supermarket is stopping charge for 10-week period

Tesco has temporarily scrapped five pence plastic bags in stores across Dundee.

The supermarket firm has implemented a 10-week trial period in stores in Dundee, Aberdeen and Norwich.

The trial is being carried out to monitor the impact of “bag usage” across the country.

Tesco said they carry out “lots of different trials each year to see how we can improve our business and serve customers better”.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are carrying out a short trial in a few stores to look at the impact on bag usage if we remove single use carrier bags.

“In these stores customers who need a bag can still buy a Bag for Life which they can reuse.”

Tesco online will continue to offer single plastic bags, but customers can select a “bagless” delivery option.

Scotland’s plastic bag charge came into force in 2014.

Andrew Llanwarne, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Tayside, said he welcomed the move, but believes introducing the initial five pence levy is likely to have a larger impact.

He said: “It’s good that Dundee is to be used for something like this. “It reflects well on Dundee. “There were 650 million fewer plastic bags used in Scotland in the first year after the levy was introduced.

“It’s a good move which shows that people shouldn’t go for cheap throwaway things, but should go for things that last longer.” In 2014, a Dundee supermarket took the unusual step of attaching security tags to shopping baskets.

Asda’s Milton of Craigie store applied the tags after a spate of basket thefts by shoppers attempting to avoid paying the 5p plastic bag charge that was introduced in 2014.

Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for the supermarket firm said: “Sadly, since the introduction of the carrier bag charge, we have lost a large number of baskets.

“We have reluctantly introduced security tags to ensure all our customers can carry out their shopping without disruption.”

The Courier reported at the time how other shops in the City of Discovery were forced to shell out significant sums of money to replace basket stocks.

It is claimed shoppers also took to cramming free tiny bags designed for fruit and vegetables with an array of other goods.

Zero Waste Scotland slammed the actions of the basket thieves, saying there was “no excuse” for their actions.

Dundee and Aberdeen are two of the trial areas.