Continente plans to end plastic bags for vegetable and fruit purchases

The Continente supermarket chain has launched a pilot project in some of its stores to provide shoppers with a sustainable alternative to the plastic bags used to pack loose fruit and veg.

Continent is running the pilot scheme until the end of April to test its alternative reusable cotton bags.

Continent also is removing plastic bags from its bakery zone and trying out some paper bag alternatives to those annoying ones made of paper with a see through plastic strip.

The company says that if it could save all the plastic it uses on the bags for fruit and vegetables, it would save 430 tonnes of plastic per year.

Plastic bags for online purchases are charged at 10 cents but if the customer wants to return the bags, the money will be returned.