Plastic Bag stop in Poland

The Biedronka supermarket chain has announced that it is stopping the usage of plastic bags, and plans to eliminate them from its stores before end-2008.

The Polish Environment Ministry approved of the decision, adding, "We will launch an information campaign to try and explain to Poles how many unnecessary bags they use. We would like to promote conscious consumption".

Biedronka follows the lead of other chains that have stopped using plastic bags in Poland. Ikea sells paper bags, with the money got from them being used for planting trees in Polish forests. Tesco now only offers degradable bags, also promoted by Carrefour and Piotr i Pawel.