Company news
Tapioca Bags debut at three Sainsbury’s supermarkets
July 16, 2003
Sainsbury’s is set to launch the first fully biodegradable carrier bag from 14 July in three of its stores - in Islington, Ladbroke Grove and Durham. The bags are partially made from tapioca starch, the same product used as a sweetener in baked goods and tapioca pudding.
The tapioca bags are expected to be an instant summer hit with environmentally conscious consumers, as they can be easily composted and decompose to common earth elements like carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
They are also as strong and durable as a conventional plastic bag and customers will be encouraged to reuse the bags as normal until they wear out. Once the biodegradable bag has worn out, it can be disposed of via home composting or a Local Authority composting scheme.
Sainsbury’s Packaging Innovations Manager, Terry Robins said:
“We think customers will love this bag. In contrast to “Degradable” bags, which are slow to break down and may leave pieces of plastic and traces of harmful chemicals, the new Sainsbury’s bag biodegrades naturally and leaves no harmful residue.”
The creation of the new bag is a particularly important initiative as the Government is actively discouraging the disposal of waste to landfill and is keen to promote home and commercial composting as an alternative.
