Time to go green: why Boots is ditching plastic bags

When it comes to the environment, the climate is both literally and metaphorically changing. The health of our planet is on the minds of many and as people search for ‘greener’ approaches to living, business is also feeling the pressure to support people in our transition to embracing more environmentally friendly lifestyles.

After Morrisons started offering paper bags in addition to plastic ones in their stores in May 2019, Boots UK have now made available paper bags in 53 of their 2,485 stores with the aim of all Boots outlets using paper bags by early 2020. This move comes in response to recent research where 94 per cent of 6,000 Boots customers surveyed agreed that a switch to paper bags would be positive.

These bags will be made from recycled brown paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and printed with water-based inks so they may be recycled along with other paper waste. The bags come in prices of 5p, 7p and 10p although Boots don’t technically have to charge for paper bags. The price tag on the bags is to encourage people to bring their own bags. The profits from the bags will go to BBC Children in Need – a charity that supports disadvantaged children across the UK – as was the case with the plastic bags.

Boots has however said that for central facilities, such as repeat prescriptions, the packaging employed will not be paper-based but will contain a minimum of 60% recycled material from July onwards. This is because the packaging needs to be durable which is something that paper bags cannot reliably offer. Boots UK has said that they are looking into alternative materials based on cellulose, potato starch or paper alternative however for now they only have plastic to offer. Boots UK has come under criticism for this decision however, in their defence, Boots is the first chain with outlets across the country to switch to offering unbleached paper dispensing bags in stores.

This switch by Boots comes after they signed up to the UK Plastics Pact last year, as did Tesco and Sainsburys. By 2025, Tesco have pledged to make their packaging fully recyclable and Sainsburys’ have pledged to make all of their plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable.

We are seeing backlash against firms for excessive and unnecessary or non-recyclable plastic packaging. I think it wouldn’t therefore be entirely miscalculated to predict that we would be seeing more firms making such changes to their business and services to make them more environmentally friendly.

This switch has however given rise to the paper vs plastic debate. While single-use plastics have created immense environmental issues, a rise in paper may in turn lead to greater deforestation. Greenpeace’s senior oceans campaigner Louise Edge warned that “retailers need to be careful that by swapping plastic for paper they don’t end up shifting the problem from our oceans to our forests”.

Paper used by Boots UK is certified by FSC however paper bags do also have to be used more than ones for them to be environmentally friendly because they use four times as much energy to produce and also use more energy to transport because they are heavier. This interesting science that some may not have considered only goes to show that the problem was never plastics after all. Ultimately, we need to all work on our habits and the best solution to the plastics problems, as far as bags are concerned, comes from reusing bags. Every material will come from a resource and, due to its very nature, must be used responsibly and sustainably. Perhaps, we need to meditate upon the idea of single-use rather than only single-use plastics.