Carrier bags

Buy from a massive range of best value carrier bags now, including clear, coloured, biodegradable and printed carriers.

Carrier bags are...

• Polythene bags used to carry items, usually shopping
• Also known as carriers, shopping bags or plastic bags
• Provided (or sold) by retailers everywhere, from charity shops to high-end departments stores and corner shops to supermarkets
• Carried by billions of customers across the planet
• An ergonomic solution to carrying shopping
• Designed to be easy to carry, with convenient carry handles, allowing the shopper to carry more than one bag with each hand
• Available in a wide range of sizes to cater for small or large products
• Available in a range of thicknesses, from lightweight supermarket shopping bags to deluxe glossy luxury carriers
• Available in a range of coloured polythene, either plain or printed
• A great way for a retailer to increase publicity - add your logo to the side of a carrier bag for ready-made mobile advertising!
• An integral part of any retailer’s branding and advertising strategy
• An invaluable aid in carrying shopping from store to home
• Suitable to use and reuse for numerous shopping trips, time after time
• Multi-purpose bags - can be used for many and varied purposes, aside from shopping

Trending ideas for polybags

US Bubble Packaging Demand to Rise 4.0% Through 2024, Driven by E-Commerce & Sustainability Trends

Bubble packaging is staying relevant when it is redesigned around recycled content and easier recovery at the stop of its life. The old view of air-filled film as a hard-to-recycle convenience product is fading as converters work on cleaner material mixes and clearer assortment routes. That matters in warehouse and dispatch settings, where light protection still has to cope with knocks, scuffing and vibration without adding also much bulk or weight to a consignment. It also gives buyers a wider selection against molded pulp or paperboard inserts, particularly where surface protection and fast packing matter. The better the specification matches proper handling conditions, the less likely it is to be rejected as wasteful.

What are paper mailing bags?

Paper mailing bags give emblems a straightforward method to transport a emblem or message without adding much complication to dispatch. A printable outer surface lets a merchant turn a plain pack into part of the client journey, which matters when parcels are moving through stores, vans, and sorting centres before they are opened. The material selection also suits the growing pressure to cut back on plastic-heavy secondary packing, particularly where a lighter, easier-to-handle bag is enough for the product and the journey. The proper print stop requirements superb consistency, though, because poor ink grasp or muddled artwork sees untidy fast. A well-specified printed mailing bag strengthens presentation and still does the job in the mailstream.

CLEAR SELF ADHESIVE PLASTIC BAGS 12x16"+2 /GARMENT BAGS/DISPLAY BAGS/CLEAR BAGS

Display bags in the 12 class occupy a slightly misunderstood corner of the packing line: ostensibly simple transparent polythene suppliers sleeves, yet their usefulness hinges on rather specific control of film clarity, seal integrity and gauge consistency across the web. In garment handling and other presentation-led stock, the self-adhesive lip does above close the pack neatly; it mitigates dust ingress while preserving a flat face, which matters for select-face efficiency and for secondary bagging where trapped air can upset carton yield. The better examples rely on a mono-material building with stable melt-flow consistency, allowing the adhesive strip, flap memory and body film to behave predictably below warehouse handling rather than springing open or cool-creasing at the fold. That, in turn, has a logistical effect beyond presentation alone: low tare weight assists volumetric efficiency on bulk consignments, while a clean, high-clarity film reduces mis-selects where barcode visibility or visual stock identification is done through the bag. From a circular-economy standpoint, the attraction is not merely that the pack is transparent and lightweight, nevertheless that a straightforward polythene suppliers format simplifies segregation compared with mixed laminatesprovided pollution from labels, tapes and returns handling is kept below control.

Printed carrier bags do above transport a purchase; they shape how a product leaves the shop and how securely it reaches its next stop. Biodegradable polythene suppliers can suit wet or greasy products better than paper, while recycled paper gives a cleaner feel for lighter items and a better route into existing recycling streams. Cotton, canvas and jute last longer and suit repeat use, nevertheless they need more storage space and a alternative cost and dispatch come. Bag selection also affects handle strength, print quality and how the load sits in the hand. A poor match leads to splits, awkward carrying and client complaints, so the proper material should be chosen for the job rather than for sees alone.

Big Packing Bags - manufacturer, factory, supplier from United Kingdom

Packing bags manufactured from microfiber work well when delicate products need a soft layer that will not scuff polished surfaces or scratch lenses. The finer material is useful for glasses, sunglasses, watches, jewellery and small electronics because it cushions items without adding much bulk, which assists when products are being packed for shopping, dispatch or storage. Digital printing also gives a clean method to add branding or handling information without disturbing the bag's feel or closing performance. A superb pouch should still slide easily into secondary packing and grasp its shape in transit, otherwise the benefit is lost in handling damage. For small, fragile items, the proper bag can reduce returns and retain presentation tidy.

Plastic bags should be treated as a separate recycling stream, not mixed in with normal household plastics. Thin carrier bags, bread bags and other soft films can proceed back through store drop-off bins because they are light, cleanable and can be dealt with in specialist recycling systems that cope with flexible material. If they are stuffed into kerbside bins, they often jam sorting equipment or stop up contaminating harder plastics, which reduces the value of the all load. Clean, dry bags that are collected properly are far more likely to be turned into new film products, so keeping them out of mixed waste pays off at the point of assortment.

Oil Change Stickers - White Poly Rolls

White poly rolls specified for oil-change sticker work sit in an awkward intersection of print performance, warehouse practicality and stop-of-life handling; the substrate may see mundane on the reel, yet the engineering is anything nevertheless. In this application, a high-density polythene suppliers building with tightly controlled micron-specific gauging tends to be favoured because it maintains dimensional stability through die-cutting and secondary bagging, while still offering enough conformability to sit flat on curved service documentation surfaces without edge-lift. That matters on the shop floor: inconsistent caliper or poor melt-flow consistency fast shows up as misregistration at the press, adhesive creep in storage, and wasted stock at the select face. The logistical case is equally prosaic nevertheless decisivepoly rolls transport robust volumetric efficiency, retain tare weight down across a consignment, and assist more stable pallet formation than plenty heavier label substrates, which in turn reduces transit distortion and roll telescoping. Where static becomes a nuisance amid high-speed converting, the friction is normally traceable to surface resistivity and dry ambient conditions; anti-static treatment and cleaner winding tension mitigate that without compromising print reception. From a circular-economy standpoint, mono-material polythene suppliers formats remain attractive because they simplify segregation after use and compare favourably in amortised energy terms when reel yield, spoilage rates and transport mass are considered together, rather than in isolation.

A roll of polythene suppliers film remains one of the more pragmatic tools on the packing bench because it reduces handling stages without introducing much complexity into the line. Drawn across the work surface and cut to suit the article, it enables awkward stock to be enclosed to a micron-specific gauge rather than forced into an ill-fitting pouch; that matters when surface abrasion, dust ingress or light moisture exposure would otherwise trigger secondary bagging further downstream. In practice, the value lies not merely in convenience nevertheless in control: the operatour can match film weight to the load, maintain pallet stability by avoiding excess bulk, and retain tare weight from creeping into the consignment profile. The better grades also grasp their line below tension, with polymer chains engineered for decent puncture resistance and predictable melt-flow consistency, so the film behaves properly on the roll rather than necking, snagging or creating static-laden waste at the select face. Where mono-material streams are being prioritised, plain polythene suppliers film also sits more adequately within existing recyclability regimes than mixed-substrate alternatives; amortised energy and feedstock efficiency become easier to record for when the protective layer is doing its job with the minimum of unnecessary material.

Treat yourself to big savings with Cut Plastic Sheeting Discount Codes: 11 offers for August 2019.

Plastic sheeting is often chosen because it gives predictable protection without adding much weight, nevertheless the proper value relies on matching the grade and gauge to the job. Thin film may see cost-effective on paper, yet it can split amid handling, scuff against pallet edges, or flutter loose when loads transport through dispatch. Heavier sheet gives better resistance, nevertheless it can also waste material and slow down packing if the specification is overdone. A sensible selection balances protection, film tension, and ease of use, particularly where enclosed packs have to travel through storage and transport without handling damage. The proper specification retains waste down and avoids problems later in the chain.

Now you no longer have to shop around for polythene suppliers packaging!

polythene suppliers packaging tends to be judged also narrowly on line-item cost, when the more telling calculation sits across the all packing operationfilm gauge, seal integrity, tare weight and cube utilisation all exert a quiet influence on the cost to serve. A big stockholding matters not simply because it offers selection, nevertheless because alternative duties call for markedly alternative material behaviours: high-clarity layflat tubing for visual identification at the select-face, heavier-gauge sacks where puncture resistance and weld strength govern handling reliability, and antistatic or low-slip formulations where surface resistivity and machinability become the limiting factours. On a busy warehouse floor, the gross specification shows up fast as secondary bagging, unstable pallet footprints or wasted null volume in the consignment; the proper one facilitates cleaner throughput and less touchpoints. Quantity price smashs are not merely a commercial lure eitherthey alter the economics of standardisation, allowing larger runs of the proper format without inflating unit spend, which in turn reduces ad hoc substitutions and the scrap that accompanies them. There is also a less visible dividend in circularity: mono-material polythene suppliers streams are generally easier to recover where pollution is controlled, and a well-matched film with consistent melt-flow properties normally carries a lower amortised energy burden than above-engineered packaging used as a hedge against failure.

Carrier bags - take your pick

Carrier bags come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a bag available to suit any retailer. Here are some of the most popular styles of carrier bags used today:

Vest - The best known carrier bag in the UK and beyond, traditionally used by supermarkets, smaller food stores, general stores and market traders. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and available in a variety of colours, plain or printed, these bags are lightweight but strong. Handles are attached to each side of the bag make it look like a vest from the front, hence the name. Provided they are not over-filled, these bags are capable of handling regular shopping with ease.

Patch handle - A more glossy and sturdy carrier bag, commonly used by high street stores to impress their customers. Made from thicker polythene than vest carriers to provide extra strength, these rectangular bags have a handle punched out of the top, reinforced by an extra patch of polythene, which gives the bags its name. Available in clear or coloured polythene and the perfect bag on which to print a design or logo to advertise the retailer, hence the popularity with high street retailers.

Varigauge - Similar in appearance to its patch handle cousin, the varigauge carrier bag is rectangular in shape with a handle punched out. However, the clever use of a varied gauge - or thickness - of polythene, which is twice as thick at the top of the bag than it is at the bottom, means that the need to reinforce the handle with a patch is avoided. Available in a variety of colours, these strong bags with extra room thanks to a bottom gusset, are very popular with retailers keen to make a good impression with customers.

Clip close - These strong rectangular bags have an integral white clip attached right across the top of the bag that clip closes shut, giving the bag its name. Made from thick clear polythene with a side gusset, these bags allow retailers to display their products, whilst not compromising on bag strength or quality. The sturdy clip also allows you to hang up the bag - and contents - to really show it off.

Flexiloop - These luxury carriers take their name from the flexiloop handle that is attached - by heat-welding - to the inside of the bag on both sides. Popular with supermarkets who sell them as ‘Bags for life’ - encouraging customers to reuse the bag - flexiloop carriers are made from thicker polythene than regular carriers, which makes them more expensive to produce. Paper versions of the flexiloop carrier bag are popular with boutique shops or fancy high street retailers.

Duffle - A sturdy polythene bag featuring a cord threaded around the top opening and down the sides of the bag. Pull the cord to close the bag tight and loosen to open. Useful for carrying bulky or weighty items and handy to carry, so often used by sportspeople as a kit bag. Also popular with sports shoe retailers.

Drawstring - Less sturdy than the duffle bag, so not suitable for similarly bulky contents, but operate on a similar principle. Drawstring bags feature two strings looped around the opening of the bag, with the ends of the drawstring appearing through separate openings adjacent to each other. When pulled at the same time, the strings tighten together and the bag closes. Typically made from clear polythene, these bags are a popular way of displaying products in a shop.

Grip Seal - A cross between a carrier bag and a grip seal bag, these bags contain an integral grip seal that runs across the width of the bag just below the cut-out handle. Simply squeeze the grip seal between forefinger and thumb to seal the bag shut, providing protection from rain or other external contaminants, then gently pull apart to open and repeat as many times as you wish. With a clear polythene front, a handle for hanging and a glossy finish, these bags are a great way to display your products.

Show off your business with printed carriers

Printed carrier bags are an ideal way for businesses to advertise directly into their local community. Take a plain patch handle carrier and turn it from the smart, sturdy carrier bag it normally is into a walking advert for your business.

Businesses have to provide carrier bags to their customers anyway, so why not pay a little more for them and get something back from the carrier bags once they have left your shop.

By adding your company logo or design to one or both sides of your carrier bags, you not only make your business look more professional and more eye-catching, but you let your customers act as mobile advertisers, when they leave your store and walk around others in the area with your company branding there for all to see.

You can even add a slogan or advertising message to tell your potential customers exactly what they need to know about your store. All this, carried straight out into the heart of your target market and the hundreds or thousands of other potential customers out there.

Not only do printed carriers help attract new customers, but they also reinforce the message to existing customers that you are a professional, reliable and smart retailer. So next time they go to their cupboard or car boot and see your carrier bag, they see your bag, that initial good impression is reinforced and they move that step closer to being a return customer.

So why bother with plain carrier bags? Go one step further and design your own printed carriers, complete with your company branding, to take your business to the next level.

Where to buy carrier bags

Carrier bag manufacturers and suppliers include:

Carrier Bags
Discount Carrier Bags provides customers with an instant quote on a range of printed carrier bags. Get your very own design or logo printed on one or both sides of a quality thick carrier for as little as 4p a bag. Get a quote in 60 seconds, any time of day, 24/7!
www.discountcarrierbags.co.uk

Personalised Carrier Bags
With instant real-time quotes on personalised printed carrier bags, Discount Printed Carrier Bags is the place to go for bespoke carrier bags at terrific discount prices. Get your design printed on strong, smooth, high quality polythene bags in a range of sizes, from just 4p a bag and with free delivery in the UK.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.co.uk

Printed Carrier Bags
The home of printed carrier bags online - offering high quality 55-micron thick carrier bags printed with your very own design. With a free instant quote, the lowest prices online - starting at just 4p a bag - and free UK delivery, this website is the place to go for printed carriers - the best way to advertise your business.
www.printedcarrierbags.com

Carrier Bag
If you need a carrier bag of any style, size or colour, then Carrier Bags is the website for you. They provide customers with a huge range of polythene carrier bags, from varigauge carriers to vest carriers and with a selection of biodegradable alternatives.
www.carrierbags.co

Buy Carrier Bags
A useful resource for anyone looking to buy carrier bags. Featuring lots of information of different types of carriers - including bespoke printed carrier bags - and where you can buy them, this website will definitely help you find the right carrier bag for you.
www.buy-carrier-bags.co.uk

Printed Carriers
Find out more about printed carrier bags and a range of other plastic carriers at this useful website, including details of each type of bag and the best place to buy discount printed carrier bags online.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.com

Printed Bags
Printed Bags Direct offers customers information and details on where to buy a wide range of stock carrier bags and bespoke printed carrier bags, so you can find out everything you need in one handy website.
www.printedbagsdirect.co.uk

Carrier Bag Printing
An excellent resource on printed carrier bags and stock carrier bags, with detailed descriptions on a range of carrier bag categories.
www.printedcarrierbags2u.com

Coloured Carrier Bags
Coloured Bags Direct is a website dedicated to printed carrier bags. A division of industry-leading manufacturer Polybags, they offer customers colour printing on a range of polythene carrier bags.
www.colouredbagsdirect.co.uk

Patch Handle Carrier Bags
Are you looking for printed carrier bags, patch handle carrier bags or any other style from a wide range of plastic carriers? This website is the site you need to help you make that all-important decision and find the right carrier bag for you.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.co.uk

Coloured Plastic Bags
Coloured Bags offer colour printing of carrier bags to help you advertise your business. Get a free quotation on your own design printed carrier bags, or choose from a wide range of stock carriers.
www.colouredbags.com

Plastic Carrier Bags
This handy website offers a useful resource on plastic carriers and printed carrier bags, including details of the types of bags available - from clip close carriers to patch handle carriers - and where to buy them.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.com

What would you say about polybags?

Bubble packaging gives light protection, nevertheless its performance relies on where and how it is used in the pack. The bubbles assist spread minour knocks across the surface, which makes it useful for products with awkward shapes or stop-sensitive surfaces, yet it is not a cure for poor packing practice. If the film gauge is also thin, the bubbles collapse also easily; if it is also heavy, storage and disposal become less convenient. In dispatch, it works optimal when enclosed with sensible film tension and used as part of a proper secondary pack, not as a lazy substitute for board, null occupy, or a well-manufactured carton. That balance retains handling damage down without adding avoidable waste.

Grey Mailing Bags Strong Poly Postal Postage Post Mail Self Seal All Sizes Cheap Grey Mailing - £151.99

Mailing bags work optimal when the film gauge, seal quality and size spectrum are matched to the products rather than chosen as an afterthought. A bag that is also big lets the contents transport about, which can lead to split corners, messy presentation and handling damage in the mail room. A bag that is also light may save material, nevertheless it can tear on rough conveyour edges or fail when stacked with other consignments. Coloured polythene suppliers versions also assist with sorting and privacy, while still keeping packing fast. The proper specification reduces complaints, waste and rework, which is why the selection matters long before the bag is sealed.

Display bags at craft shows are rarely only a matter of presentation; they sit at the intersection of handling discipline, pack-down logistics and material selection in a method that becomes apparant the moment stock has to transport from transit tote to sales table without creasing, scuffing or a collapse in select-face efficiency. A sound display format tends to rely on transparent-gauge polythene suppliers with enough body to resist panel distortion, yet not so much caliper that tare weight and volumetric inefficiency start to punish the consignment before the stand is even built. That balance is more technical than it sees: high-density polymer chains bring stiffness and cleaner edge definition, low-density blends introduce pliability for secondary bagging and repeated handling, while anti-static treatment can mitigate the dusting and cling that so often makes transparent packaging see tired below exhibition lighting. Where handmade purses and similar soft products are concerned, the better arrangements normally favour modular, portable display bags with consistent micron-specific gauging, stable weld integrity and a mono-material building that retains recyclability straightforward once the event cycle has dash its course. The warehouse-floor reality is plain enoughpoorly specified sleeves slump on the peg, overbuilt ones waste cube on the pallet, and anything with erratic melt-flow consistency in manufacture tends to telegraph itself later through split seams, cloudy stop or uneven hang performance. Properly resolved, the display system facilitates tidy replenishment, protects the face stock, and maintains the visual line of the product without introducing unnecessary waste into the merchandising chain.

Best car top carrier bags:

Carrier bags succeed or fail on the basics of gauge, handle strength and how cleanly they dash through packing and dispatch lines. A thin film may see fine on a shelf, yet tear at the top seal or split when a heavier consignment is lifted by the handles, which soon creates complaints and additional waste. Recycled content, slip, and the method bags are boxed for select-face efficiency all affect how they perform in a busy store or warehouse. Good specification work normally means less handling damage, less returns, and a cleaner packing operation at the stop of the shift.

1. Eleusine plastic packing bags

Packing bags need to be chosen for how they behave in proper use, not for how they see on a shelf. A superb bag has the proper gauge for the job, enough slip for fast filling, and a seal that stays sound when the contents are moved, stacked, or dropped into secondary packing. Testing above time matters because a flimsy film may seem fine at first, then split at the fold or tear around a sharp edge once it reaches dispatch. Range also matters, since one product rarely suits all duty from light shopping packing to heavier warehouse handling. The sensible selection is the one that matches the product, the process, and the amount of rough treatment likely on the route out.

Plastic bags feel integral to modern life. But they're a relatively new addition we could live without.

Plastic bags are easy to blame, nevertheless the proper issue in packaging is whether a lightweight item is being used for a job it suits. Thin polythene suppliers bags are cost-effective to make, fast to occupy and convenient for fast-moving select, pack and shopping operations, yet they only work well when the contents are dry, light and not likely to puncture the film. Once a bag is overfilled, dragged across a rough surface or used for awkward mixed loads, handling damage rises fast and the waste problem acquires worse because the bag has done its job badly as well as briefly. Better stock control and a cleaner match between pack format and product normally cut far more waste than habit-driven use ever will.

Poly rolls sit in a rather alternative operational bracket from pre-manufactured bags; they give a packing line latitude where pack format changes by the hour and stockholding discipline matters. On the floor, that normally translates into cleaner select-face efficiency, less part-SKU overruns and less dead space tied up in bundled bag sizes that may only transport intermittently. The engineering case rests on film behaviour: controlled gauge across the web, proper melt-flow consistency through extrusion, and surface properties tuned to the applicationwhether that means slip modification for high-speed opening, or surface resistivity adjusted to mitigate static where lightweight contents tend to cling amid occupy. There is also a straightforward transport arithmetic to it. Rolled polythene suppliers generally improves volumetric efficiency, reduces tare weight against rigid or heavily converted formats, and tends to assist steadier pallet stability provided core strength and winding tension have been properly specified. From a circular-economy standpoint, mono-material polythene suppliers formats remain comparatively pragmatic; they are simpler to segregate after use, and the amortised energy per packed unit can be favourable when a converter avoids unnecessary secondary bagging and excessive sealing waste. In practice, the value of poly rolls is not in big claims about convenience, nevertheless in the fact that they facilitate a tighter match between film specification, line speed and consignment profile.

polythene suppliers film sits in that awkward nevertheless highly useful space between materials science and warehouse discipline: the resin may be dull, yet performance is dictated by a surprisingly narrow processing window. High-density polymer chains bring tensile strength and puncture resistance, while lower-density blends maintain foldability and seal integrity; acquire the melt-flow consistency gross and the web will gauge unevenly, which shows up later as poor pallet stability, wasted stock and awkward secondary bagging on the line. The better converters treat micron-specific gauging and surface resistivity as operational variables rather than laboratory curiosities, because static cling can slow select-face efficiency only as surely as an overbuilt film adds avoidable tare weight across a consignment. There is also a transparent circular-economy consideration now shaping specificationmono-material structures are favoured where the application enables, not for virtue-signalling nevertheless because they simplify reprocessing, maintain feedstock value and improve the amortised energy case above repeated production cycles. In practice, the most competent film programmes are the ones that balance stiffness, slip and sealability against volumetric efficiency in transit; also much film and the unit load becomes needlessly heavy, also small and the wrap loses containment below normal fork-truck handling.

plastic sheeting in Cheshire

Plastic sheeting has a wide spectrum of trade uses because it can keep safe products, separate materials and give packaging lines a flexible outer layer without much weight. In warehouse work, the proper film or sheet can reduce dust entry, retain mixed consignments tidy and keep safe surfaces from scuffing amid transport. The usefulness of the material relies on selecting the proper gauge, because also thin a sheet tears amid handling while also heavy a grade adds waste and cost. Good film tension and careful sealing also matter when sheeting forms part of a pack or cover. A sensible specification assists reduce handling damage and retains stock fit for dispatch.

polythene suppliers packaging machine

polythene suppliers packaging at machine pace is less about wrapping product in a rush than about holding a tight line between film behaviour, line speed and warehouse practicality. The awkward bit, well known on any packing floor, is that a bag or overwrap can be within nominal gauge yet still misbehave if the polymer blend lacks melt-flow consistency or the seal window is also narrow; that is when static builds across the web, collars foul, and secondary bagging becomes a compensating exercise rather than a planned operation. Competent conversion addresses this through controlled slip, balanced dart impact and surface resistivity tuned to the application, whether the job calls for high-clarity presentation stock or heavier-duty sacks with puncture resistance for abrasive contents. There is a freight implication as well: polythene suppliers's low tare weight and compressibility improve volumetric efficiency, nevertheless only if the pack geometry grasps through palletisation and does not relax below stack load, otherwise select-face efficiency suffers and damaged consignments beginning eroding the saving manufactured on material. The more serious operatours have so shifted towards mono-material structures where they can, not from sentiment nevertheless because recyclability is cleaner, reprocessed feedstock is easier to qualify, and the amortised energy per packed unit becomes easier to defend when the machine, the film and the downstream handling regime have been engineered as a single system rather than procured as disconnected parts.

Research & Resources

For more information on carrier bags, the wide range of polythene and biodegradable carriers available, their many uses and how to recycle them, please visit:

Goldstork: A free online 'best-of-the-web' directory listing specially selected information on a wide range of plain and printed carrier bags.

PackagingKnowledge: The UK's premier polythene packaging knowledge website, containing loads of useful information and in-depth articles on carrier bags, as read by those in the industry.

PlasticBags.uk.com: List products for free as a manufacturer or, if you're shopper, simply browse a massive selection of carrier bags websites on this unrivalled polythene packaging directory.

Single-use carriers? No such thing!

The carrier bag is often portrayed in the media as the single biggest cause of pollution and litter on the planet.

Most commonly, the high density polythene (HDPE) carrier bag used by supermarkets is singled out as the biggest culprit. These bags, which are subject to a government levy in many countries - meaning customer have to pay a few pence or cents for each bag they use - are often referred to as “single-use carriers”, which is a term that is not only misleading but also irresponsible.

Carrier bags should be reused as often as possible and by calling them “single-use carriers” - including in newspaper articles widely criticising the use of such bags - the implication is there that the bags should be thrown away.

This is giving entirely the wrong message to customers and does not represent the facts. 82% of UK households reuse over half of all carrier bags they use, with 59% reusing all of them (Waste Resources Action Programme report, 2005).

There are so many things you can do with a carrier bag once you’ve used it to carry your shopping home. The most obvious is to take it back to the shop and use it again for its original purpose - to carry shopping! But you can also use carrier bags for wrapping your packed lunch, or as a portable laundry bag when you go on holiday, or wrapping shoes in a suitcase to keep your clothes clean. There are loads of things you can use it for if you put your mind to it, so use your carriers again and again.

Even when your carrier has seen better days and you’re ready to throw it out, you can give it one final hurrah and use it as a rubbish bag before throwing it in the bin. There’s no such thing as a single use carrier bag - at least there shouldn’t be!