Morrisons UK price hike: Plastic bag charge increase leaves customers furious

The supermarket chain, Morrisons, has announced it will increase the price of plastic bags for the third time after recently introducing paper bags. Plastic bag charges were introduced across the country in a bid to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bag. The standard price of bags was just ten pence, however Morrisons has already hiked this price up twice this year. The cost is set to rise again, but will this affect you? Why is it changing?

Morrisons will set the price of a carrier bag at 30p, after increasing it from 10p to 15p in January and again to 20p in April.

Some Morrisons stores are already trying the 30p bag charge out and this is likely to be rolled out across the country if it is a success.

Bag charges in the UK were introduced to encourage shoppers to reuse their bags and cut back on single use plastic.

There is a “clear expectation” the proceeds of all bags sold will go to a good cause and how it is spent is up to each individual store, according to the government.

However, Morrisons shoppers are not happy with the rising costs and some have even threatened to boycott the chain.

On Facebook, one person wrote: “I have moved my shopping to Tesco/Lidl due to the price increases of the carrier bags.”

A Twitter user said: “I’ve just spent 30p on a carrier bag in Morrisons and I am shocked and upset.”

However, some people see the benefit of the price hike and are in support of the new charge.

One Facebook user wrote: “I thought the charge was to stop folk buying them to prevent further damage to the environment so sure raise them.”

David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, said: “Our customers tell us that plastic reduction is their most important environmental concern.

“So in a company-wide effort for the last 18 months we’ve been working aisle by aisle to take out unnecessary plastic wherever possible.”

Although this is only being tested at the moment, it is likely to affect shoppers across the country if it is a success.

The store has already introduced paper bags at a slightly cheaper price in order to cut back on plastic.

Last week, Morrisons announced they will close four stores in the UK, putting 400 jobs at risk. 

The move comes after a performance review of all 494 supermarkets and stores in Crawley, Wigan, Solihull and Swindon are all to close down.