Waitrose response to carrier bag campaign

Dear Mr Hamilton

Waitrose carrier bags are made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and they are fully recyclable. Waitrose routinely investigates alternative materials to ensure that its impact on the environment are kept to a minimum. Having thoroughly reviewed the environmental and commercial characteristics of biodegradable carrier bags Waitrose is firmly of the opinion that conventional virgin carrier bags are most suitable for the following reasons.

i) Waitrose is committed to reduce the overall number of carrier bags used in its shops, thus reducing resource use regardless of whether that resource is renewable. That is why we were the first supermarket to introduce the Bag for Life in 1997 which we believe can be reused on up to 20 occasions. This helps us to avoid using over 54 million conventional carrier bags each year. The bag when returned by our customers is replaced free and recycling into plaswood furniture.

ii) Since the introduction of the Packaging Waste Regulations in 1997, the UK Government and the packaging industry has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to increase packaging recycling levels. Recycling rates in the UK are now higher than ever (more than 60% of all packaging materials placed in the UK economy are now recycled), although material recycling in the UK is still considerably lower than in other European Member States. Waitrose is committed to support the recycling infrastructure in the UK to make material recycling even more economical and accessible. That is why we offer recycling facilities at all of our branches where we have space (currently approximately 60% of our branches have customer recycling facilities onsite), why we recycle cardboard and plastic at every branch, and why we always try to purchase recycled materials for our products (to stimulate and drive forward demand). Unfortunately biodegradable materials are not recyclable and we believe that the general public will not easily be able to differentiate between biodegradable and conventional materials. If mixed with recyclable plastics they will contaminate and invalidate the batch mix. Alternatively, if non biodegradable bags are incorrectly assumed to be biodegradable they will litter composting facilities. We believe that a single solution is simpler for everybody to understand and we believe that should be material recycling.

iii) Currently, industrial composting facilities are few and far between and until investment similar to that required to stimulate material recycling is in place biodegradable bags will continue to be disposed of as general waste. Here, when placed in landfill sites whey will not degrade efficiently (because of the anaerobic conditions), and they will release carbon dioxide (a powerful greenhouse gas) and contribute to global warming. In contrast, if a polymer based carrier bag is landfilled it will remain inert.

We will continue to review the best available technology on a regular basis and our immediate strategy remains to reduce overall carrier usage by offering and promoting the bag for life.

Regards,

Benjamin Dowsett

Waitrose Customer Service.

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