Who provides TESCO'S with these bags. cheers.

uk legislation
It is important to appreciate the difference between Standards and Laws in this context. Standards are, essentially, a guide to specification and compliance with a Standard is not legally enforceable. Sometimes, Laws are enacted which embody references to Standards in order to define products which do or do not meet specific criteria - clearly in those cases it does make a real difference if a product does or does not meet the Standard.

At the present time, d2w, and any other oxo-biodegradable products, do not meet the requirements of EU Standards for degradable packaging. The significance of this and how this is likely to change are detailed below.

Standards
UK Standards are normalised with those of the EU. Domestic Standards are created by the British Standards Institute (BSi) who also administers those of the EU. The current Standard for degradable packaging is the European Standard, EN13432. A key feature of this Standard is the measurement (using the Sturm Test) of the speed of emission of CO2 in the course of degradation in compost. Although d2w products totally degrade, the speed at which they emit CO2 does not meet the current Standard - indeed, based on this definition even a leaf cannot be called 'degradable'.

A BSI Working Group 2004/00862, reporting to Committee PKW/00, is currently formulating a new British Standard designed to recognise the functionality of oxo-biodegradable technology. This has been under way for some months and is titled at present BSi Standard PKW/00 Doc. 2004/00862.

Tesco Customer Service wrote:
Thank you for your email.

I have investigated this for you and have been advised of the following.

Sorry, this is company sensitive information that we do not provide to customers.

I do apologise for the disappointment this may cause.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting TES4254053X.

Kind Regards


Frances Gibson
Tesco Customer Service

Baylis,

try SEO.L Stanelco PLC they have some patent on biodegradable technology,not up to speed with them but they did get a contract from Asda if am correct or wal mart.

i see in the observer front page 33 councils have banned plactic bags at supermarkets.

Sphere supply bags to Tesco

Oh please don't involve SEO - Tesco needs suppliers that can deliver volume, not words!
Also, the whole premise of plastic bags needs discussion - for it is my understanding that the environmental issue is far from clear-cut.
The original complaint from the green-lobby was that the bags damaged wildlife - well we only care to some extent, as six-pack packaging is still made - it has been linked to deaths of hedgehogs, who get caught in the can-rings. (Perhaps if it was robbins that would be a different story?).
However, it appears that most wildlife isn't "that stupid" to attempt to eat plastic bags - although it is recognised many animals swallow stones to aid digestion process.
One issue leveled at bags is that they last hundreds of years and contaminate landfill - this I don't believe, Firstly landfill is a sealed environmnet, to avoid liquids finding their way into water-courses, furthermore the atmosphere is monitored so no nasty-niffs. Finally, the bags I have arround the home and garden rarely last more that 3, or four years ( less outdoor, including larger heavy-duty bags from builders).
So where is the problem with supermarket bags? Personally I like them, they are useful for wrapping things and so on. I prefer the clear-variety, so much easier to check what's inside.....but they have a limited life, so need replacing.
If supermarkets charge for bags and folks wish to re-use them, then they will have to be stronger and last longer. So whilst the "number" of bags might drop ( less than half?), they will last longer, which kinda-negate the whole process.
Yes, I know they are supposed to be bio-degradable, but folk won't choose to pay for these.....with a short-life.
No I don't think I get it at all, esp. as the original premis is far from proven.
-Incidently checkout-bags were introduced to prevent pilfering and to advertise the store.