Lidl to stops selling plastic bags in Portugal

The German supermarket chain, Lidl, is to stop supplying plastic bags across its 250 stores in Portugal.

The phasing-out begins in May and ends in December 2019, with alternative paper or raffia bags available to customers.

In Portugal, Lidl sold 25 million plastic bags last year, which corresponds to a turnover of €2.5 million per year as each bag costs 10 cents.

The new alternatives offer no price advantage for customers as it’s still 10 cents for the medium paper bag, 14 cents for the larger version and 50 cents for the raffia bags.

The purchasing manager of Lidl Portugal says the raffia bags, with 60% recycled material, have been available since 2010. The paper bags will be available from May.

Asked about the cost of this initiative for the company, Bruno Pereira said that, “We do not see this as a cost but rather as an investment in the environment, which is not an isolated decision but is part of a more comprehensive strategy.”

Lidl already has reduced the use of plastics and has decided to stop selling disposable plastic articles (removing 12.5 million cups and five million plastic dishes per year from the rubbish tip,) and reducing plastic consumption by 20% by 2025 in all its own brand packaging.