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Packaging And Design

Tesco UK Customers Choose Beneficiaries of Bag Charges

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Tesco UK Customers Choose Beneficiaries of Bag Charges

Over 27,000 Tesco customers in Scotland and Wales have taken part in a vote to choose the beneficiaries of an estimated £1.8 million set to be raised from plastic carrier bag charges in those countries.

The successful charities are Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy. The Scottish levy is expected to be worth around £1 million and the Welsh levy around £800,000. Both charities are planning to use the money to fund a variety of projects to keep local communities clean, tidy and green.

Legislation to introduce charging for plastic carrier bags came into force in Wales on 1 October 2011, and it is due to be introduced in Scotland from 20 October 2014. It means plastic carrier bags are no longer given away free when people go shopping, which is in line with the situation in several EU countries.

Greg Sage, community director for Tesco said, “Our customers are the ones who will pay the charge, so we really wanted them to choose the charities that will benefit from it.

“Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy now have a fantastic opportunity to use the money raised from the bag charge to make a real difference to the communities they serve.”

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In June Tesco invited charities and environmental organisations to submit proposals on how they would use the funds to help make a real difference for the environment and local communities. 120 organisations applied for the Scottish and Welsh partnerships, and these were whittled down to the five-strong shortlist. Tesco customers were then asked to vote online for which charities or environmental organisations they thought would make the best use of the money.

Derek Robertson CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) said, "This is fantastic news for KSB and a tremendous opportunity for Scotland, a country whose people, organisations and institutions have really wrapped their arms around KSB and shown that they care about their environment by voting for Scotland’s own environmental charity. We would like to thank everyone who voted for us."

Lesley Jones, chief executive for Keep Wales Tidy said, “We’re delighted to have received the vote of confidence from our supporters and Tesco customers. Keep Wales Tidy campaigned hard for the introduction of the bag levy and we’re extremely pleased that it has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the use of single use carrier bags and that proceeds from the levy are being used to support environmental action."

Both partnerships will run for an initial period of 12 months from 20 October 2014.

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© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine – Europe’s grocery retail magazine, for all your breaking supermarket, convenience store and FMCG news. Article written by Nicole Gernon

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