Harrods is ditching its signature green plastic carrier bag in favour of a paper version.
The luxury retailer is replacing the plastic bags with a 100% recyclable, sustainably-sourced paper version that is FSC approved and made from 40% recycled materials.
Harrods’ Food Hall is going step further, offering neither version of the carrier bags. Instead, customers will have to bring in their own bags or buy a ‘bag for life’ from later this year.
“Updating our iconic carrier bag is long overdue, but switching from one material to another is meaningless if you are not making a drastic reduction in waste,” said Harrods MD Michael Ward.
“We are determined to overhaul the way bags are handed out across the store and are challenging customers to join us in reducing waste by using as few bags as possible.”
Harrods estimates over four million bags a year leave its department store in London’s South Kensington and is aiming to cut their use by 50%.
“As proud as we are to see customers leaving our store with the iconic Harrods green bag, going forward we want to see as few of them as possible,” Ward said.
Since last year, the retailer claims to have removed all plastic across its outbound distribution packaging.
The company has also pledged to stop using 100% single-use virgin plastic and instead replace it with more sustainable alternatives.
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