Aug 9, 2010 – Since Albert began charging customers for plastic bags at the checkout, their consumption has halved. Customers are also thinking about the environment more and there is a growing trend towards the use of proprietary bags. Almost 40 percent of Czech consumers admit that when the bags were distributed for free they took more than they actually needed.
Albert is proud of the success of its project to protect the environment. Customers are charged CZK 1 for a small plastic bag and there is also a range of other bags available. “The consumption of plastic bags has dropped by half, which means we’ve saved on millions of bags,” says Libor Kytýr, Communications Director at Albert. “Thanks to this we have been able to alleviate the burden on the environment, and we have also managed to raise a sum exceeding CZK 5 million that will be used for charity purposes.”
An Albert survey found that 60% of customers bring their own bags when they go shopping. It also showed that when plastic bags were distributed for free, four of 10 customers took more bags than they needed.
”When customers opt for a bag in our stores, 35% prefer a paper bag. One in four customers say they chose the recyclable plastic bag in order to contribute to charity,” Libor adds. Virtually all customers said the charge on the bags had no impact on the frequency of their shopping.