Upmarket UK retailer Waitrose & Partners has announced that all Waitrose.com deliveries and in-store collections will be bagless, effective 27 September.
The initiative will remove an estimated 40 million plastic bags per year from the retailer's operations.
The announcement coincides with the retailer reinstating deliveries into customers' homes, with drivers once again able to assist customers with heavy lifting and unpacking.
Alternatively, customers can bring their purchases inside the house on crates provided or request assistance from the driver to transfer it into their own bags at the doorstep.
'Bags For Life' To Be Discontinued
On 27 September, Waitrose will also remove its 10p 'bags for life' from all its core outlets.
The decision follows extensive research showing that these bags have increasingly become single-use items.
The retailer will introduce a new reusable alternative on the same day, which it says is twice as durable, made from recycled materials and fully recyclable.
At 50p, it will serve as an entry-level bag in the retailer's reusable bags collection.
'Reduce Single-Use Plastics'
James Bailey, executive director of Waitrose, commented, "We've long pledged to reduce single-use plastics, so we have a clear obligation to remove our bags for life because they are no longer being reused as originally intended.
"While our new bag is more durable and fully recyclable, it is available as a last resort only and for customers with no other option. We do not want anyone to buy our new bags and instead would urge all our customers to bring ones they already have stocked away in cupboards at home as this is the best thing for the environment."
The retailer has implemented various measures to reduce plastics from its operations, including the use of more Prevented Ocean Plastic (POP) in its own-label packaging and sales of refillable products, among others.
