Morrisons harks back to the 1970s as it offers £1 string bags for fruit and vegetables to reduce plastic waste
- The bags will meet buyers’ demand for plastic-free ways to take home produce
- Each mesh tote is made of recycled cotton and can hold 17.5 pounds of shopping
- They are being trialled in four stores in Catcliffe, Guiseley, Halfway and Skipton
- Morrisons had begun rolling out plastic-bag free greengrocery sections in May
In a move that harks back to the shopping experience of the 1970s, UK supermarket Morrisons is selling string bags for fruit and vegetable totes to replace plastic bags.
The food retail chain has brought back mesh bags in response to feedback from customers who want eco-friendly, plastic-free ways to carry their produce.
The string bags are initially being trialled in four stores in Morrisons home county of Yorkshire — Catcliffe, Guiseley, Halfway and Skipton.
The £1 mesh totes — which can be picked up from the greengrocer section — will be rolled out to Morrisons stores across the UK later this year.
In a move that harks back to the shopping experience of the 1970s, UK supermarket Morrisons is selling string-net fruit and vegetable totes to replace plastic bags
The food retail chain has brought back mesh bags in response to feedback from customers who want eco-friendly, plastic-free ways to carry their produce
Shoppers will use the bags to carry their groceries around the store before weighing each item individually at the till.
After paying for their purchases they can place them back in the sack before heading home.
The launch of the retro bags follows on from Morrisons introduction of plastic-free fruit and vegetable aisles in its stores back in May — a first for UK supermarkets.
To help replace the plastic bags, Morrisons also reintroduced recyclable paper bags.
These environmentally-friendly sections will be established in 60 stores by the end of 2019.
‘As we increase the number of loose fruit and veg we stock, we’ve listened to customers — who said they wanted plastic free bags to carry it home in,’ said Morrisons Packaging Manager Natasha Cook.
‘In our trials, customers said they felt a sense of nostalgia using the string bag — as it reminded them of shopping trips of the past.’
Each of the string bags is made from 100 per cent unbleached, untreated and recycled cotton which can be washed should they become dirty.
They are designed to be both reusable and robust, capable of holding around 17.5 pounds (8 kilograms) of fresh produce — the equivalent of 26 large baking potatoes.
Consumers can use multiple string bags to separate different grocery items from each other.
The bags are intended to help shoppers carry their purchases from the supermarket shelves to the checkout where they are unloaded for weighing.
Once paid for, the items can be put back into the bags and taken out of the store.
The launch of the retro bags follows on from Morrisons introduction of plastic-free fruit and vegetable aisles in its stores back in May — a first for UK supermarkets
The £1 mesh totes — which can be picked up from the greengrocer section — will be rolled out to Morrisons stores across the UK later this year
However, the bags are not only capable of carrying large unpackaged fruit and vegetables, with the mesh totes’ 0.6 inch (1.5 centimetre) holes small enough to contain even smaller items of loose produce like kiwis, garlic and new potatoes.
An advantage of using the mesh bags to carry loose fruit and vegetables is that they help stop the produce from getting bruised.
It is hoped that using the bags to carry produce home from the store will help to further reduce the supermarket’s plastic waste.
Morrisons estimate that the ‘buy bagless’ fruit and vegetable shelves launched earlier this year are already helping to cut plastic usage by 156 tonnes a year.
Alongside the string bags, Morrisons has also launch a re-usable flower bag — priced at £2 each — which is made from 100 per cent natural jute, a vegetable-based fibre.
The string bags are initially being trialled in four stores in Morrisons home county of Yorkshire — Catcliffe, Guiseley, Halfway and Skipton
Each of the string bags is made from 100 per cent unbleached, untreated and recycled cotton which can be washed should they become dirty. They are designed to be both reusable and robust, capable of holding around 17.5 pounds (8 kilograms) of fresh produce