Spar Starts Charging for Plastic Bags in Northern Ireland

Two Spar stores in Northern Ireland have started charging for plastic bags in a trial launched by franchise owner, the Henderson Group, to reduce plastic bag usage.

Spar Ravenhill and Ballyhackamore are charging 5p for regular bags and 10p for a bag for life. All proceeds from the bags will go to the NSPCC, the locally nominated charity by the stores.

Ballyhackamore store manager Janice Gray encourages customers to bag up waste by reducing the use of plastic bags.

The Pennies for Plastic trial will be implemented in 13 local Spar retailers across Northern Ireland. Henderson plans to roll out the initiative to all the Spar stores in Northern Ireland to help reduce waste.

David Agnew, senior area manager at the Henderson Group, said: “Reducing, reusing and recycling is core to Henderson’s corporate and social responsibility strategy. We are delighted to be leading the way for Spar in Northern Ireland, and take our environmental and social responsibility seriously. We want to make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment and their local community by reducing plastic bag usage and raising money for the NSPCC.

“We will have already taken several steps towards helping reduce the number of carrier bags by always encouraging customers to think about whether they really need a bag. Now we are trialling carrier bag charging in our stores. We also offer our customers a stylish yet sustainable bag solution that they can bring with them each time they shop.”

The trial will last three months before rollout across the province.