Co-op’s carrier bag fund benefits 800 community causes

Over 800 good causes in Scotland have received a boost to their new year funding. The Co-operative Group has raised more than £750,000 through carrier bag charges and sales of its bags-for-life and woven reusable shopping bags, and is now redistributing the money through grants of up to £2,500.

In September, the organisation set up a Local Fund, inviting community projects and causes to apply for the grants, which then went to a public vote. Groups that applied included day care centres, Scout troops and defibrillator campaigns, among others, with grant recipients being notified from Monday, 18 January.

“As a community retailer we want to enable members, customers, colleagues and communities across Scotland to make a difference locally,” said John McNeill, divisional managing director for the Co-operative Food in Scotland. “The Co-op shares the aspiration of seeing a reduction in the number of single-use carrier bags in circulation. In addition, hundreds of local groups and organisations are set to receive a much needed funding boost – together, we are reducing, reusing, recycling and, reinvesting in our communities.”

Since the introduction of the single-use carrier bag charge in October 2014, there has been an 80% reduction in their usage. According to Scotland’s environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, this equates to 650 million fewer bags.

“In the process, retailers have managed to raise an outstanding £7 million for good causes across the country,” he said. “With the carrier bag charge we want to reduce litter and improve Scotland’s environment, but it’s great to see how it has evolved and that worthy causes are benefiting from it too.”

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, added: “Retailers are witnessing a huge reduction in the number of carrier bags in use and it is clear that Scottish consumers have embraced a new shopping habit. The Co-op is a community retailer and its scheme illustrates how the carrier bag charge is not only benefitting the environment, but it is also making a positive difference in the communities where the money has been raised.”