A bit of a snag for supermarket bags...

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Jane Hyatt, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, went into her local Tesco store to do a weekly shop, distributing her items between store-supplied carrier bags. However, whilst she was packing, she told us that she noticed that some of the bags were splitting and failing to hold her groceries. She says the Tesco employee at the checkout recommended that she double bagged some items, but Jane didn't do this for all of her bags.

Jane told Watchdog:

"When I got home the [Tesco carrier bags] were splitting at the bottoms. And in one case, a bottle of wine and a bottle of water fell out, smashed, and cut my toe."

When Jane contacted Tesco Customer Services to complain, she was told that:

"To reduce the environmental impact of our carrier bags, we have made our carrier bags biodegradable. This means that they break down into water, carbon dioxide and biomass which have minimal impact upon the environment. This process normally takes 20-36 months from manufacture. Unfortunately, this has caused the carrier bags to become weaker."

Another Tesco customer, Nasim Awan from Bedford, wrote to Watchdog to tell us that he also used Tesco's free carrier bags to pack his weekly shop. Nasim says he was careful not to overload the bags as he thought they had got thinner, but as he was carrying a bag inside to his mother's home a bag split open. He says the bag contained a box of cakes, and a four pint milk carton which then burst when it hit the floor causing milk to spill over the carpet.

Nasim wrote to Tesco to complain, and was told by Tesco Customer Services:

"The bags are tested to make sure they are strong enough for customers to carry their Tesco shopping home safely. These tests include checking the strength of the handles and the bottoms of the bags, and are normally sufficient to ensure they are adequate for the job. However, we don't recommend that they are overloaded and if heavy items are to be carried, it's often better to double the bags in order to strengthen them. Our cashiers will provide as many bags as you require."

Watchdog decided to find out if Tesco's free carrier bags had got thinner. We also wanted to find out how much weaker they are compared to other supermarket bags. We got free carrier bags from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Co-op, and Marks and Spencer (the latter charge 5p per bag).

We measured an older Tesco bag from circa 2002. We then took a current Tesco bag - along with those from six other supermarkets - to the National Measurements Office. We found that Tesco bags have got thinner - by 25%. We also discovered that they are also the thinnest on the High Street. Our measurements showed that they are 20% thinner than Asda and Waitrose, 25% thinner than Sainsbury's and nearly 30% thinner than Morrisons.

We then asked an independent laboratory to test how strong the bags from the supermarkets were, and to do this they filled the bags to the max with identical loads of shopping. The first bag to break after just 12.5 seconds was Asda's free carrier bag - which as one of the thinnest bags from our survey wasn't a surprise. The Tesco bag was the second bag to break - taking only 15 seconds.

The winners were Morrisons and Marks and Spencer, whose bags didn't break at all in the six minutes the experiment lasted. And what about that Tesco bag from circa 2002? Well that that didn't break in the experiment either.

We asked Environmental group Friends of the Earth what they thought of our findings.
Spokesperson for the group, Dr Michael Warhurst, told Watchdog:

"So Tesco are saying people should use two plastic bags - in Friends of the Earth's view that's just wrong. We should be using reusable bags when we can, and if people need plastic bags supermarkets should use plastic bags that that can be used again and again. They can charge for them to discourage people from taking too many but the idea of making bags that can't be used even once is just a waste of resources."

A Tesco spokesman said:
"At Tesco we adjust the specification of our bags from time to time to try to strike that difficult balance between minimising plastic and ensuring the bags are strong enough for customers to use with confidence.

"We will be introducing a new generation of stronger bags in stores from this week. For customers who want a really robust bag they can use time and time again, we have a wide range of reusable bags which reward customers with green Clubcard points each time they use them.

"Our bags are degradable which has a positive impact on litter and customers can recycle these bags at our in-store bag collection facilities."

The British Retail Consortium said:
Carrier bags have indeed got thinner in recent years. This has happened under a voluntary agreement with each of the UK governments to reduce the environmental impact of bags.

Retailers have gone to great lengths to reduce the number of bags taken by customers, to reduce the weight of bags, and to increase their recycled content.

Asda's response:
"We're surprised at your findings, because this year alone we've done more than 8,000 individual durability tests on our carrier bags, with absolutely no failures and practically no customer complaints considering how many people we serve each week."

Watchdog viewers' responses:

Within the past two months we have had many Tesco bags split, I would estimate that we have lost over £40 worth of goods from such instances, the most expensive of them when two bottles of spirits (which were carefully placed in one bag each along with extremely light items) feel out of the bag when I removed it from my car at home. When you think about it, they went straight from the till into a trolley, then into my car, therefore the first time the bags had to carry the weight for longer than say 5 seconds, was when I took them out of my car.

The following day I went to my store on the way home for a few extra items and I had 3 bags handles split at the till before even getting any items in them.

Don't get me wrong we do have "bags for life" too, however these have been instances where we were passing and thought we would pop in to the supermarket.

They say they are trying to be good to the environment, however the amount of bags I have wasted in the past few months during last minute visits, completely defeats the object.

Because of the recent loses I am seriously considering changing my regular supermarket.
Regards

Mrs M Weston (Harlow)

Hi

I bought 2 bottles of wine along with other shopping from Tesco, lifted the bag out of the car when I got home and 1 of the bottles went through the bottom of the bag and smashed. Tesco were very good though and replaced the bottle without any problem.

Andy Ewins

Hi,

Just seen on TV about the bags...i thought i was the only one who found it frustrating - I know they are bio degradeable but not to bio degrade in your hand before you get home!!! This means it becomes totally backward as you have to use twice as many bags by either putting less in each bag or having to double up the bags to make them stronger - so not really environmentally friendly is it!

Many thanks

William from West Cheshunt

Dear Watchdog

I thought it was just me, but over the past month, I've had 4 Tesco bags falling apart and smashing lots of jars and bottles, even though I hardly put any weight into the bags. At the checkout now, I'm reluctant to put very much into the bags at all - meaning I'm probably using double the amount of bags as I used to. Does this not cancel out the environmental benefits of their new biodegradable bags?

Lisa Herron

I have had problems with Tesco carrier bags tearing. We really shouldn't have to 'double bag' as Tesco suggests!!!

My suggestion/query is why don't supermarkets supply paper bags like they do in the USA. Even ones with handles for people with buggies etc.

For one thing they are more environmentally friendly than plastic!!

Kind regards

Helen Bishenden, Bedfordshire

Watchdog viewers' responses were received between 22/09/10 and 29/09/10.