Luxury London department store Harrods, has announced that it would replace its plastic carrier bag with a 100% recyclable paper carrier bag from early next month, with the goal of decreasing carrier bag use by 50%.

According to Harrods, the new sustainable sourced paper carrier bags will be 100% recyclable and manufactured from 40% recycled materials and will have the FSC certification, indicating that the paper in the bags is responsibly sourced, helping to take care of and nurture the forests.

The department store also plans to reduce its carrier bag use by half from pre-pandemic levels, reducing the number of bags supplied to consumers. This will involve establishing goals for employees to hand out fewer bags and, later this year, the full elimination of all carrier bags from Harrods' dining hall and trademark departments. Instead, employees will extend invitations to consumers to purchase a jute reusable bag.

The revamp of Harrods carrier bags is part of the retailer's larger plastic reduction strategy, which includes the company's recent decision to eliminate all plastic packaging from outbound distribution, ensuring that Harrods customers get products in completely plastic-free packaging.

Harrods has also committed to eliminating all single-use virgin plastic packaging from its stores, ensuring that all of its packagings are 100% reusable or recyclable and comprises a minimum of 40% – 100% recycled material.

Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods, said that updating their famous carrying bag is long overdue. However, moving from one material to another is worthless unless you are drastically reducing waste, which is especially important for a company that produces over 4 million bags each year.

Ward added that they're on a mission to change how bags are distributed around the store, and they're asking consumers to join them in reducing waste by using as few bags as possible. As delighted as they are to see consumers leave Harrods with the famous green bag, they want to see a few of them as possible in the future.