Ipswich Borough Council have launched a campaign aimed at reducing the amount of carrier bags that are used.
Carrier bags are light and flimsy but they have a huge impact on our environment. In the UK we produce more than 10 Billion carrier bags each year - if laid end to end these would stretch to the moon and back five times!
80% of shoppers put everything into free carrier bags at the supermarket - most are used once and then thrown away creating 100,000 tonnes of waste. That's the same weight as 70,000 cars!
Carrier bags cannot be recycled in the blue bins because they get caught on the machinery at the "Materials Recycling Facility".
What is the answer?
It's easy to play your part in reducing carrier bag waste.
1. Use your shopping bag as many times as possible.
2. Invest in stronger re-usable bags – most supermarkets sell "bags for life".
3. Keep spare bags in your car or at work so you're never without.
4. Let checkout staff know you've brought your own bag before they pack for you.
If you have re-used your carrier bags many times and they have become worn out they can be recycled at Hadleigh Road Sainsburys or Asda in Ipswich.
Ipswich Borough Council is also launch its own brand of products to help you "Choose 2 Re-use".
We are working closely with Asda and the Co-op within Ipswich to publicise the new campaign and hope that our "Choose 2 Re-use" roadshows will help to change shopping habits.
If you have any questions or indeed ideas on how we can get more people to "Choose 2 Re-use" then please contact the recycling team on 01473 432099 or email us at recycling@ipswich.gov.uk.