Supermarkets fail to implement 5p plastic bag charge online
Environmental campaigners are calling for action on a legal loophole that allows supermarkets to charge online customers 40p for an unlimited quantity of plastic bags. The 5p cost per bag at checkouts resulted in a 6bn fall in the number of bags used in 2016, following the introduction of the charge the previous year. At present Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose all charge 40p for bags used in online deliveries, based on the fact that an average of eight bags are used, regardless of the number actually supplied. One customer claimed Sainsbury’s had used 23 bags to deliver 53 items.
Supermarkets have been accused of ignoring the 5p plastic bag charge by using a 'ridiculous loophole' allowing them to charge online shoppers 40p for unlimited numbers.

Environmental campaigners and MPs have said it needs to be stopped because it offers no incentive to reduce bag use unlike the strict rules followed at the checkout.

Charging 5p inside the supermarket means shoppers took home six billion fewer plastic bags in 2016, down to 500million from seven billion just before the charge was introduced in 2015.

Yet Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all charge a flat 40p fee for deliveries based on the eight bags usually needed for an average online shop - but some shoppers say excessive bags are often used.

The law states that councils should fine supermarkets up to £20,000 because it means bags are being sold at below the 5p legal threshold - but anecdotally it appears this is not being applied, one Government source said.

Labour MP Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, told MailOnline the situation was ‘ridiculous’ while Green co-leader Caroline Lucas says the 40p flat fee 'risks fatally undermining the gains from charging'.

Weekly shop: Sainsbury's has been branded 'wasteful' after it delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags including some containing single items

Upset: Shoppers have vented their anger online when they have been given too many bags by online retailers charging a flat 40p fee as opposed to a per bag rate

Evidence: This Sainsbury's shop came with several items packed one item per bag

Policy: Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all charge a flat 40p fee for plastic bags for bagged-up deliveries based on average of eight needed for an average shop

Mistakes: Online shoppers have revealed that in some cases excessive bags are being sent by supermarkets - sometimes even if they don't request them

Yesterday it was revealed that Sainsbury's delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags to mother-of-two Andrea Berry, 38, even though she only paid for eight.

Have you had an internet shopping disaster? Email news@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

Labour MP Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, told MailOnline the situation was ‘ridiculous’.

‘Capping the costs of plastic bags does not act as an incentive for people shopping online,’ she said.

She added that supermarkets had to be much more careful about how they told staff to pack shopping.

How four of the major supermarkets charge the 40p flat fee for bags Sainsbury's A flat fee of 40p is charged for each online grocery order. Customers can also opt for a bagless delivery. Tesco Customers who opt for a bagged online order are charged a flat rate of 40p. Their website says: 'We've worked this out based on the average number of bags needed to pack an order. You can avoid the charge by opting for a bagless order'. Asda Home shopping customers who receive deliveries pay a flat 40p per order if they ask for bags. Some items such as meat are delivered in bags for hygiene reasons - these bags are free of charge. Waitrose If you choose to have your delivery in carrier bags, Waitrose will charge a flat rate of 40p per delivery. You can choose to have your collection bagless, or in carrier bags. Morrisons Carrier bag charges of 5p apply both in-store and online. They offer a 5p incentive for the return of bags from the previous shop. Ocado They charge 5p for single-use plastic carrier bags and apply the same online because 'it's fairer on everyone if we only charge for the exact number of bags used to pack your shopping'. Shoppers are given 5p for every used bag they give back to recycle. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_2 - ->

‘There are lots of items that are pre wrapped already. There are plenty of things like boxes of cereal that can be quickly unloaded from a palette,' she said.

‘Whilst there will always be individual circumstances for fragile items, but 23 bags for 53 items is just ridiculous.’

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, told MailOnline: 'A flat rate cost for unlimited plastic bags risks fatally undermining the gains from charging.

'With the evidence in favour of a 'per bag' charge so abundant there's no reason whatsoever for allowing supermarkets to set their own rules by offering a flat rate. Instead customers should pay a modest 'per bag' rate and supermarkets should make sure that they use as few bags as possible in their deliveries.

'Britain is taking real strides towards reducing our plastic waste and we could go even further if we end this loophole.'

Kate Parminter, Liberal Democrat DEFRA spokesman said: 'The whole point of introducing the 5p charge was to reduce the number of unnecessary plastic bags which are thrown away and end up in landfill.

'Consumers are cutting the number of bags they use and it’s unfair if supermarkets don’t do the same. When someone does an online shop and they are being charged for bags they expect only the minimum needed to be used. Shoppers are doing the right thing: supermarkets should do the same.'.

Social media has plenty of examples where shoppers have complained about being given excess bags, sometimes because supermarket staff are putting just one item in each one.

Last year Martin Wingate tweeted photographs of a bottle of Tabasco sauce in a plastic bag with nothing else, and another with aluminium foil also in a single bag.

He then tweeted the supermarket and said: '@sainsburys good excessive use of plastic bags on the home delivery'.

Roisin Rogers also tweeted pictures of her Asda shop with three bags all containing single items.

She said: '@asda @AsdaServiceTeam my online delivery, good to see you take not wasting plastic bags seriously'.

In June last year Tim Bunton photographed how Asda had put two small bags of children's snacks in a single bag.

He wrote: '@AsdaServiceTeam home delivery just arrived. Glad to see the saving on plastic bags is being put to good use!!'

Anger: MPs Mary Creagh and Caroline Lucas say that the flat rate should simply not be allowed

The new law to charge 5p for plastic bags was brought in in October 2015 and has had a huge impact on the number used.

More than seven billion single-use plastic bags were handed out by the main retailers in 2014.

Are supermarkets really allowed to charge a flat fee? Large retailers must charge for plastic bags used for deliveries and online sales, including click-and-collect and collections. The number of bags used isn’t always known until delivery takes place so this means retailers can charge for an average number of bags for multi-bag deliveries, as long as 5p or more is charged per bag overall. They are encouraged to offer bagless delivery as an option - this will cut down on waste. Any supermarket's local council should inspect them to check they are following the law. Inspectors can visit the shop or store at any time to make test purchases and demand records. Inspectors don’t have to give a warning but can carry these out as ‘secret shopper’ exercises. If they find a problem they can issue a £20,000 fine but it is not clear if that is happening. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_3 - ->

But in the six months that followed the introduction of the charge in England in October 2015, that figure dropped to just half a billion.

That means six billion fewer bags will have been taken home by shoppers in 2016.

Ministers said this was the equivalent to the weight of roughly 300 blue whales, 300,000 sea turtles or three million pelicans.

The 5p charge has also resulted in donations of more than £29million from retailers towards good causes, including charities and community groups.

The Mail launched its Banish the Bags campaign in an effort to reduce the waste, cost and environmental damage associated with the billions of plastic bags given away each year, a symbol of our throwaway society.

The Mail’s campaign, which began in 2008, swiftly received cross party political support and was backed by a string of large retailers – though some of the major supermarkets tried to fight it tooth and nail.

The country’s biggest retailer, Tesco, opposed mandatory charges – insisting it could deliver reductions in the number of bags given away at tills through voluntary means. Initially, ministers gave big stores the chance to clean up their act without the need for a new law.

But it appears there could be a problem in the online shopping sector.

Mother-of-two Andrea Berry has branded Sainsbury's 'wasteful' and its staff 'lazy' after it delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags including some containing single items.

She placed an £103 order online and the weekly haul was delivered to her door on Tuesday morning as usual.

But the IT consultant was baffled when the Sainsbury's driver started handing her near-empty plastic bags, most containing only one or two items.

And she couldn't resist lining up the 23 bags on her kitchen floor for a photograph so she could shame the 'lazy' supermarket's staff.

Savvy shopper: Mother-of-two Andrea Berry, 38, (left) from Hampshire, placed an £103 order online (right) and the weekly haul was delivered to her door on Tuesday morning as usual

Every meat product was double wrapped and packed in separate carriers while one mango was given its very own bag.

She said: 'I imagine the pickers go around the aisles and pick things up in order, but they don't seem to have used any common sense.

'It's just lazy. It's probably someone who's not really thinking about what they are doing, but I'm guessing it happens with all their customers.

'The staff clearly don't think, "I've got half a dozen fruit and veg items so they can all go in together" - even that was divided between three or four bags.

MailOnline has approached Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose for comment.