News

Tesco said it has reduced the number of carrier bags it gives away by offering the "carrot" of incentives to customers.

Tesco has cut the number of bags by 600 million since it launched its Green Clubcard points scheme in August 2006, putting it "well on the way" towards its target of a one billion reduction in bags by 2008.

Under the scheme, customers who re-use plastic bags or find alternative ways to carry their shopping receive Green Clubcard points that can be redeemed against food or a range of different services.

Shoppers in the West Midlands have re-used the most carrier bags, with an average of 542,768 bags per store re-used in the past 10 months. But the East Midlands came bottom with an average 245,953 per store.

Tesco executive director Lucy Neville-Rolfe said the results proved that "the carrot is more effective than the stick" in encouraging greener consumption.