Plastic bags threaten nasty side effects for Boots as customers and charities complain

BOOTS has come under fire for handing out repeat drug prescriptions in plastic bags, rather than paper ones.

Customers criticised the decision but Boots said the plastic bags were used because some repeat prescriptions were assembled centrally before being sent out to pharmacies. Last August Boots signed the UK Plastic Pact to reduce plastic packaging by 2025, led by the charity Wrap, or the Waste and Resources Action Programme. David Moon, head of business collaboration at Wrap, said it was “engaging with Boots” on the matter.

Bob Knightley, who was given a prescription in a plastic bag, called it “a bad decision.” Roisin Moriarty said she was “increasingly angry” after being handed a plastic bag. “I told my colleagues, who were equally appalled.”

Boots said most prescriptions were still put in paper bags in store, but a central pharmacy in Preston, Lancashire, was used to provide 380 stores with repeat prescriptions.

The bags needed to be “heat-sealed shut” to reduce the risk of spilling during transit. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace questioned the decision and called on the Government to push for stronger legislation on single-use plastics.

Louise Edge of Greenpeace said: “We’re baffled by this. Boots has just signed a pledge to reduce single-use plastic – and yet here they are introducing new ‘durable’ plastic bags for repeat prescriptions.” She said the bags would not degrade for hundreds of years, potentially releasing toxic microplastic pollution into rivers and oceans.

Emma Priestland, of Friends of the Earth, said: “The ongoing use of pointless plastics by companies such as Boots shows that voluntary commitments to cut down on plastic use are not enough.” Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, shared his frustration on Twitter. “Turning from paper to plastic to save costs is not an acceptable way to run a business,” he wrote on Twitter. “Sort this out please.”

Boots insisted that its bags were fully recyclable and said it would announce further measures to “dramatically” reduce its use of plastic.