Compostable carrier bag trial coulds ee Fifers ditch plastic

CARDENDEN: Study could lead to pilot and huge reduction in plastic bags use

Plastic carrier bags could be ditched by Fife shoppers for compostable versions if a trial in Cardenden is successful.

A feasibility study is to be conducted which could lead to a three-month pilot of compostable carriers.

Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty councillor Rosemary Liewald, who called for the action, said if the swap proved popular among Cardenden shops and their customers it could be extended across Fife.

More than 800 of the Co-op’s stores across the UK already offer the more environmentally-friendly bags, which are said to be more than strong enough to carry even heavier groceries such as potatoes and milk.

Ms Liewald said: “There will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050 unless people stop using singleuse plastic items, such as plastic bags, according to figures cited by the United Nations.

“The use of compostable carrier bags has already shown in previous studies carried out by the Co-op to reduce the sale of single-use carrier bags by 64%.

“Scotland uses 750 million plastic bags per year which are destined for landfill almost as soon as they are created, and add to the 2.8 million-tonne mound of plastic waste produced in the UK every year.”

She said that after the trial the results and opinions of those involved and the benefits to the environment would be assessed.

There was the potential, she said, for it to be extended to neighbouring towns and villages then into the rest of Fife.

Ms Liewald said she had secured the support of businesses RWE and Purvis Group to fund production of 20,000 of the bags for distribution to the village’s shops.

The Co-op began using lightweight compostable carrier bags in 2014.

Costing 6p, the bags can then be used as food waste caddy liners and turned into compost along with their contents.

They are made of a combination of natural materials.

There will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050 unless people stop using singleuse plastic items, such as plastic bags, according to figures cited bythe United Nations

Picture: Wullie Marr Photography. From left: Resident Leeanne Ferguson, Councillors Zoe Hisbent and Rosemary Liewald, store manager Margaret Wilson and community councillors Andrew Brown and David Taylor.