Three quarters of adults willing to spend money on reusable carrier bags
The results of a survey on reusable shopping bags conducted by the British Market Research Bureau on behalf of Guardian Limited were revealed today. The survey showed that, should supermarkets decide to scrap free plastic bags and instead offer reusable shopping bags, available at a small price, the majority of customers would be willing to pay.
Opinions were somewhat divided, however, on the amount of money they would be happy to part with. 14% of respondents believed £2 or more to be a fair price for a cloth bag which lasted at least a year, 50% regarded a price between 50p and £1 as reasonable for the same bag, and 11% wouldn't be prepared to part with more than 20p in exchange for it.
Faced with the question of how much they would pay for a reusable plastic bag which lasted for 10 uses, 61% of those questioned said they would be happy to purchase them. 34% cited 5p as a reasonable price, and 27% 10p.
The majority of respondents, however, claimed that they always reused the 'non-reusable' plastic bags which supermarkets already offer. Only 11% said they threw them away. 23% of those asked said they already used the optional stronger bags which supermarkets sell. It is estimated, however, that only 1 out of every 200 bags issued to shoppers is recycled!
