Morrisons has confirmed a refund rule that will see customers get money back for carrier bags when they are returned to delivery drivers. The supermarket giant currently charges 10p per carrier bag for home deliveries, in line with government regulations that mandate a minimum bag price. However, shoppers who receive their groceries via Morrisons deliveries can reclaim this charge by handing the bags back to the driver.
How the refund works
The Morrisons website states: “It is a legal requirement for us to charge for carrier bags. In the areas that we deliver shopping in carrier bags, they are charged at 10p each. You can however hand your carrier bags back to the driver and the charge will be refunded on your final receipt.” The bags collected are recycled for reuse.
Background on bag charges
Bag price rules were introduced in October 2015, initially with a 5p charge per bag. In England, Wales and Scotland, this has since risen to a minimum of 10p, while in Northern Ireland the minimum is 25p per bag. The charges were implemented to tackle waste, as campaigners argued that bags blight streets, spoil countryside, and damage wildlife.
According to figures reported by the BBC, in 2010 almost 6.3 billion bags were used, rising to 7.64 billion by 2014. By 2023, government figures showed that the number of single-use supermarket plastic bags had fallen by 98% since the measures were introduced.
Impact and support
Supermarkets are encouraged to donate the money raised from bag charges to good causes. Steve Hynd of City to Sea, which campaigns to end disposable carrier bag use, told The Guardian: “The 98% reduction in single-use plastic bags shows inserting a plastic tax at the point of sale is a good policy for reducing consumer plastic bag use.”
Morrisons operates 420 stores across the UK that handle nationwide online home deliveries, and this new refund policy applies to all of them.
