Supermarket chain Tesco has confirmed that it has stopped using bags containing material that helps them degrade, after new evidence showed they were less environmentally friendly than previously thought.
In recent years the company has used bags containing oxo-biodegradable (OBD) additives, but earlier this year it began to switch to bags containing recycled materials instead.
A Tesco spokesperson said: "We took the decision to remove the biodegradable additive because we believed it contributed towards bags becoming weaker, and to help better promote their re-use and recycling.
"This decision was underpinned by a detailed review of the science to help us understand the full life-cycle environmental impacts of our carrier bags."
The new bags consist of 15 per cent of recycled materials and Tesco hopes to encourage its customers to recycle the bags, rather than be tempted to dump them because of their perceived biodegradable benefits.
Industry figures have recently shown that 330 million more bags have been used by supermarket customers in the last year, compared with the previous year.
