So far, several price increases on plastic bags have caused us to buy far fewer bags in the shops. In May, the price increased again – and Handelens Miljøfond hoped this would lead to an even further decrease in use. Today, the results show only a slight decrease. STILL POPULAR: We still have a way to go to reduce the consumption of plastic bags. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news At the store At two grocery stores news visits, we meet both customers with online shopping and others who still resort to plastic bags. Tom Balgaard / news Practical with shopping net Kirsti Volle has her own shopping net in the store. – I think it has become quite practical to have the net. When I pack it up and I can fit it in a small side pocket in my bag. It’s going very well. Do you think about climate and the environment when you choose a shopping network? – Yes. I follow the trend. Nothing more than that. Tom Balgaard / news – Plastic kills animals in nature Bibbi Elise Bagguley has her own shopping network and is concerned about the climate. – I think it is completely tragic when I see animals in the sea that are full of plastic, microplastic, plus there is plastic in the sea. Just today I saw a picture of a turtle that had plastic wrapped around its head. Tom Balgaard / news Forgets the shopping net Ruth Bratsberg has to buy a bag on this shopping trip – We try to use some bags we have at home, but I keep forgetting them. So then we have to buy these carrier bags, then. Unnecessary really. – We’ve been spoiled with plastic bags for so long, so it’s a long way to remember the bag. We therefore use even slightly fewer plastic bags after the prices rose in May. Plastic bag use has fallen by 6.5 per cent since May, according to figures from Handelens miljøfond. – That decrease is too small, but it is too early to conclude, as it has been a short time since the last price increase. Overall, there is still a significant reduction in plastic bags. That’s what Gunstein Instefjord, Trade Director at the Consumer Council, says. ON WAYS: Each of us buys approx. 75 plastic bags a year. Several of them end up in nature. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news Also CEO of Handelens Miljøfond Cecilie Lind says we still have a way to go, but that the decline in one year is large. – Compared to June last year, the reduction is a whopping 46 per cent. This shows that many Norwegians have been good at changing their habits, but we have to go even further down than we have now. The shops are experiencing a decline On May 1, the price of plastic bags in the shops increased by one kroner, and from May 1 they have cost around NOK 5.5 in the shop. Coop Norge has seen a total drop of 33 per cent in plastic bag sales this year. Director of Communications at Coop Norge Harald Kristiansen says the latest price increase in May has only resulted in a slight decrease in sales. GARBAGE BAGS: Many of the plastic bags from the shops are used as garbage bags after shopping. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news Menu has had a decrease of 35 per cent after the prices of the bags increased last year, says communications manager Nina Horne Hynne. After the latest increase on 1 May, they have reduced plastic bag sales by a total of 40 per cent. – In one year, this corresponds to a decrease in sales of 11 million plastic bags. Kiwi has a total decline in sales of 40 per cent so far this year. The decrease after the price increase in May is just over 7 per cent. Do you buy a plastic bag when you shop at the store? No, I always have a shopping net with me Yes, sometimes when I forget the shopping net Yes, I think the bags are expensive No, I think this is nonsense and buy bags Show result Worse than the neighboring countries We still buy far more plastic bags when we shop at the store than our neighbors in Sweden and Denmark do. The paper bag family. Both the plastic bag, the paper bag and the cloth bag are represented here. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news More and more are turning to cloth shopping nets. This net is 1.5 years old and has many uses; today as storage for training clothes. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news The paper bag has become popular. More people are replacing the plastic bag with this one. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news While both the Danes and the Swedes have reached the EU’s target that each citizen buys 40 plastic bags per year, we have a long way to go. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Swedes bought 17 plastic bags per inhabitant last year. The Danes bought 30 bags per inhabitant in 2022. In Norway, we use over four times as many. There are several reasons for this, says Lind. THE MECCA OF SHOPPING BAGS: There are many shopping bags at Majorstuen in Oslo. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news – In Sweden, they have long used paper bags instead. In Denmark, the bags have been expensive for many years, so people there got rid of plastic bags many years ago. According to the latest figures from Handelen’s environmental fund, each of us buys approx. 75 plastic bags a year. Last year we bought 103 bags each a year. A report carried out by SIFO for Handelens miljøfond shows that people now think plastic bags are expensive and that most people have a shopping network at home. But in reality there are still many people who do not use the internet they say they have. Must be used 8 times According to Handelens Miljøfond, we will save the environment over 4,800 tonnes of plastic if we reach the EU target of 40 plastic bags per inhabitant, says Cecilie Lind. – The plastic bags are an example of how small measures in the everyday life of each one of us make a real difference. MULTIPLE AREAS OF USE: Two plastic bags – with different functions. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news She says other plastic uses are much more difficult to cut or replace with other materials, but the plastic bags can easily be replaced with shopping nets. There has been much discussion about how climate and environmentally friendly it is to replace the plastic bag. Commissioned by Handelens Miljøfond, Norsus investigated the conditions in Norway. – New data based on Norwegian conditions show that the most environmentally friendly alternative is to use a shopping net made of polyester or nylon. According to Norsus, the most environmentally friendly thing is to use the shopping nets we have and throw rubbish in waste bags made of thinner plastic. ALTERNATIVE: In Oslo, purple bags will be used for plastic. Instead of shopping bags, waste bags should be used for rubbish. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news Based on self-reporting, only four percent state that they do not have a shopping network. Price jumps help In Germany, Sweden and Denmark, consumption has fallen in line with increased taxes on the bags. Until recently, the reduction in Norway has not been shown to be as closely linked to price, which can be explained by the strong purchasing power and a price level that has not been high enough. It shows as the report that SIFO published in June. – The price increase has been a key measure to reduce Norway’s plastic bag consumption. Lind says they currently have no plans to increase the price of plastic bags even more. Published 11.07.2024, at 18.26
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Norwegians buy four times as many plastic bags as Swedes – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
