英国第四大连锁超市宣布，下周起逐步于威尔士、英格兰及苏格兰各分店提供纸质购物袋，是英国首家提供纸袋的连锁超市。
英国近年开始收取塑料袋费用，但未能遏止滥用塑料袋情况，造成大量塑料垃圾。莫里森超市（Morrisons）自2015年开始，对每个一次性使用塑料袋征收5便士（约0.10新元），其后推出可重复使用的塑料袋，每个收取20便士，但未能显著减少使用塑料袋的情况。
因此，该集团决定推出可循环再用的纸袋，每个同样收取20便士，于1月开始在八间分店试行，反应理想，不少顾客都乐意采用纸袋。
莫里斯超市表示，改用纸袋可每年减少1300吨塑料垃圾，预料此举可促使英国其他超市减少提供塑料袋。
The UK’s fourth-biggest grocer will roll out the paper bags in Wales next week, followed by England and Scotland.
It said the scheme will take 1,300 tonnes of plastic out of the environment each year.
But question marks hang over whether paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic ones.
Morrisons has been trialling selling paper bags alongside plastic reusable carrier bags in eight Welsh stores.
It will start selling both types for 20p, having phased out 5p carrier bags in the past year in England, Wales and Scotland. The supermarket chain does not have any stores in Northern Ireland.
Morrisons marketing director Andy Atkinson said: “We are taking another meaningful step that will remove an estimated 1,300 tonnes of plastic out of the environment each year.
“Our customers have told us that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern so introducing the paper bag across the nation will provide another way of reducing the plastic in their lives.”
Source: BBC / Zaobao
