The multiple's single-use plastic retail carrier bags and standard white paper medicine bags will be replaced by unbleached, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified recycled brown paper, it announced today (June 24).

Boots claimed to be the first national pharmacy chain to use unbleached paper dispensing bags.

Dispensing hub

The health and beauty giant aims to roll out the brown, paper carrier bags to all 2,485 Boots branches across the UK by “early 2020”, it said. However, the multiple's Preston automatic dispensing hub – which serves 380 Boots pharmacies – will continue to use plastic bags for the medicines it dispenses for the time being.

Last month, Boots was forced to respond to backlash in the media over its use of plastic prescription bags via the dispensing hub. The multiple stressed at the time that the hub “uses bags that are 100% recyclable”, and that the plastic bags “mean we can deliver medicines to patients in a way that is safe, clean, dry and durable”.

Speaking about its hub to C+D today, Boots said is “actively looking at alternative packaging options, including compostable bags, potato starch and a paper solution, that still offer the same quality, but with improved environmental credentials”.

In the meantime, Boots will be “introducing bags that have been made from a minimum of 60% recycled plastic”, while continuing to find ways of “dramatically” reducing plastic usage.

Dispensing bags free of charge

Dispensing bags will remain free of charge, while paper carrier bags will cost 5p, 7p or 10p depending on their size, Boots explained.

Boots will donate “all profits” from the paper bags to charity partner BBC Children in Need, it said.

Plastic pollution

The multiple estimates that the switch to paper will remove 900 tonnes of plastic from Boots operations each year.

It decided to “prioritise” larger branches for the initial launch of brown paper bags to minimise the number of plastic bags being thrown away, Boots told C+D.

Seb James, senior vice-president and managing director of Boots UK, said the move is “another pivotal moment in the journey” towards reducing plastic pollution.

The new bags can be “easily recycled at home”, whereas the plastic dispensing bags used for medicines packaged at the dispensing hub can only be recycled through “carrier bag collection schemes” and in some local authority areas.

The health and beauty giant anticipates that Boots.com will also launch “new packaging formats” by the end of 2019, and confirmed it is trialling “eliminating plastic mail bags, bubble wrap and plastic tape”.

This will “greatly reduce” the website’s “reliance on plastics”, it said.