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Carrier bags

Buy from a massive range of best value carrier bags now, including clear, coloured, biodegradable and printed carriers.

Carrier bags are...

  • Polythene bags used to carry items, usually shopping
  • Also known as carriers, shopping bags or plastic bags
  • Provided (or sold) by retailers everywhere, from charity shops to high-end departments stores and corner shops to supermarkets
  • Carried by billions of customers across the planet
  • An ergonomic solution to carrying shopping
  • Designed to be easy to carry, with convenient carry handles, allowing the shopper to carry more than one bag with each hand
  • Available in a wide range of sizes to cater for small or large products
  • Available in a range of thicknesses, from lightweight supermarket shopping bags to deluxe glossy luxury carriers
  • Available in a range of coloured polythene, either plain or printed
  • A great way for a retailer to increase publicity - add your logo to the side of a carrier bag for ready-made mobile advertising!
  • An integral part of any retailer’s branding and advertising strategy
  • An invaluable aid in carrying shopping from store to home
  • Suitable to use and reuse for numerous shopping trips, time after time
  • Multi-purpose bags - can be used for many and varied purposes, aside from shopping

Carrier bags - take your pick

Carrier bags come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a bag available to suit any retailer. Here are some of the most popular styles of carrier bags used today:

Vest - The best known carrier bag in the UK and beyond, traditionally used by supermarkets, smaller food stores, general stores and market traders. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and available in a variety of colours, plain or printed, these bags are lightweight but strong. Handles are attached to each side of the bag make it look like a vest from the front, hence the name. Provided they are not over-filled, these bags are capable of handling regular shopping with ease.

Patch handle - A more glossy and sturdy carrier bag, commonly used by high street stores to impress their customers. Made from thicker polythene than vest carriers to provide extra strength, these rectangular bags have a handle punched out of the top, reinforced by an extra patch of polythene, which gives the bags its name. Available in clear or coloured polythene and the perfect bag on which to print a design or logo to advertise the retailer, hence the popularity with high street retailers.

Varigauge - Similar in appearance to its patch handle cousin, the varigauge carrier bag is rectangular in shape with a handle punched out. However, the clever use of a varied gauge - or thickness - of polythene, which is twice as thick at the top of the bag than it is at the bottom, means that the need to reinforce the handle with a patch is avoided. Available in a variety of colours, these strong bags with extra room thanks to a bottom gusset, are very popular with retailers keen to make a good impression with customers.

Clip close - These strong rectangular bags have an integral white clip attached right across the top of the bag that clip closes shut, giving the bag its name. Made from thick clear polythene with a side gusset, these bags allow retailers to display their products, whilst not compromising on bag strength or quality. The sturdy clip also allows you to hang up the bag - and contents - to really show it off.

Flexiloop - These luxury carriers take their name from the flexiloop handle that is attached - by heat-welding - to the inside of the bag on both sides. Popular with supermarkets who sell them as ‘Bags for life’ - encouraging customers to reuse the bag - flexiloop carriers are made from thicker polythene than regular carriers, which makes them more expensive to produce. Paper versions of the flexiloop carrier bag are popular with boutique shops or fancy high street retailers.

Duffle - A sturdy polythene bag featuring a cord threaded around the top opening and down the sides of the bag. Pull the cord to close the bag tight and loosen to open. Useful for carrying bulky or weighty items and handy to carry, so often used by sportspeople as a kit bag. Also popular with sports shoe retailers.

Drawstring - Less sturdy than the duffle bag, so not suitable for similarly bulky contents, but operate on a similar principle. Drawstring bags feature two strings looped around the opening of the bag, with the ends of the drawstring appearing through separate openings adjacent to each other. When pulled at the same time, the strings tighten together and the bag closes. Typically made from clear polythene, these bags are a popular way of displaying products in a shop.

Grip Seal - A cross between a carrier bag and a grip seal bag, these bags contain an integral grip seal that runs across the width of the bag just below the cut-out handle. Simply squeeze the grip seal between forefinger and thumb to seal the bag shut, providing protection from rain or other external contaminants, then gently pull apart to open and repeat as many times as you wish. With a clear polythene front, a handle for hanging and a glossy finish, these bags are a great way to display your products.

Show off your business with printed carriers

Printed carrier bags are an ideal way for businesses to advertise directly into their local community. Take a plain patch handle carrier and turn it from the smart, sturdy carrier bag it normally is into a walking advert for your business.

Businesses have to provide carrier bags to their customers anyway, so why not pay a little more for them and get something back from the carrier bags once they have left your shop.

By adding your company logo or design to one or both sides of your carrier bags, you not only make your business look more professional and more eye-catching, but you let your customers act as mobile advertisers, when they leave your store and walk around others in the area with your company branding there for all to see.

You can even add a slogan or advertising message to tell your potential customers exactly what they need to know about your store. All this, carried straight out into the heart of your target market and the hundreds or thousands of other potential customers out there.

Not only do printed carriers help attract new customers, but they also reinforce the message to existing customers that you are a professional, reliable and smart retailer. So next time they go to their cupboard or car boot and see your carrier bag, they see your bag, that initial good impression is reinforced and they move that step closer to being a return customer.

So why bother with plain carrier bags? Go one step further and design your own printed carriers, complete with your company branding, to take your business to the next level.

Where to buy carrier bags

Carrier bag manufacturers and suppliers include:

Carrier Bags
Discount Carrier Bags provides customers with an instant quote on a range of printed carrier bags. Get your very own design or logo printed on one or both sides of a quality thick carrier for as little as 4p a bag. Get a quote in 60 seconds, any time of day, 24/7!
www.discountcarrierbags.co.uk

Personalised Carrier Bags
With instant real-time quotes on personalised printed carrier bags, Discount Printed Carrier Bags is the place to go for bespoke carrier bags at terrific discount prices. Get your design printed on strong, smooth, high quality polythene bags in a range of sizes, from just 4p a bag and with free delivery in the UK.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.co.uk

Printed Carrier Bags
The home of printed carrier bags online - offering high quality 55-micron thick carrier bags printed with your very own design. With a free instant quote, the lowest prices online - starting at just 4p a bag - and free UK delivery, this website is the place to go for printed carriers - the best way to advertise your business.
www.printedcarrierbags.com

Carrier Bag
If you need a carrier bag of any style, size or colour, then Carrier Bags is the website for you. They provide customers with a huge range of polythene carrier bags, from varigauge carriers to vest carriers and with a selection of biodegradable alternatives.
www.carrierbags.co

Buy Carrier Bags
A useful resource for anyone looking to buy carrier bags. Featuring lots of information of different types of carriers - including bespoke printed carrier bags - and where you can buy them, this website will definitely help you find the right carrier bag for you.
www.buy-carrier-bags.co.uk

Printed Carriers
Find out more about printed carrier bags and a range of other plastic carriers at this useful website, including details of each type of bag and the best place to buy discount printed carrier bags online.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.com

Printed Bags
Printed Bags Direct offers customers information and details on where to buy a wide range of stock carrier bags and bespoke printed carrier bags, so you can find out everything you need in one handy website.
www.printedbagsdirect.co.uk

Carrier Bag Printing
An excellent resource on printed carrier bags and stock carrier bags, with detailed descriptions on a range of carrier bag categories.
www.printedcarrierbags2u.com

Coloured Carrier Bags
Coloured Bags Direct is a website dedicated to printed carrier bags. A division of industry-leading manufacturer Polybags, they offer customers colour printing on a range of polythene carrier bags.
www.colouredbagsdirect.co.uk

Patch Handle Carrier Bags
Are you looking for printed carrier bags, patch handle carrier bags or any other style from a wide range of plastic carriers? This website is the site you need to help you make that all-important decision and find the right carrier bag for you.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.co.uk

Coloured Plastic Bags
Coloured Bags offer colour printing of carrier bags to help you advertise your business. Get a free quotation on your own design printed carrier bags, or choose from a wide range of stock carriers.
www.colouredbags.com

Plastic Carrier Bags
This handy website offers a useful resource on plastic carriers and printed carrier bags, including details of the types of bags available - from clip close carriers to patch handle carriers - and where to buy them.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.com

Research & Resources

For more information on carrier bags, the wide range of polythene and biodegradable carriers available, their many uses and how to recycle them, please visit:

Goldstork: A free online 'best-of-the-web' directory listing specially selected information on a wide range of plain and printed carrier bags.

PackagingKnowledge: The UK's premier polythene packaging knowledge website, containing loads of useful information and in-depth articles on carrier bags, as read by those in the industry.

PlasticBags.uk.com: List products for free as a manufacturer or, if you're shopper, simply browse a massive selection of carrier bags websites on this unrivalled polythene packaging directory.

Single-use carriers? No such thing!

The carrier bag is often portrayed in the media as the single biggest cause of pollution and litter on the planet.

Most commonly, the high density polythene (HDPE) carrier bag used by supermarkets is singled out as the biggest culprit. These bags, which are subject to a government levy in many countries - meaning customer have to pay a few pence or cents for each bag they use - are often referred to as “single-use carriers”, which is a term that is not only misleading but also irresponsible.

Carrier bags should be reused as often as possible and by calling them “single-use carriers” - including in newspaper articles widely criticising the use of such bags - the implication is there that the bags should be thrown away.

This is giving entirely the wrong message to customers and does not represent the facts. 82% of UK households reuse over half of all carrier bags they use, with 59% reusing all of them (Waste Resources Action Programme report, 2005).

There are so many things you can do with a carrier bag once you’ve used it to carry your shopping home. The most obvious is to take it back to the shop and use it again for its original purpose - to carry shopping! But you can also use carrier bags for wrapping your packed lunch, or as a portable laundry bag when you go on holiday, or wrapping shoes in a suitcase to keep your clothes clean. There are loads of things you can use it for if you put your mind to it, so use your carriers again and again.

Even when your carrier has seen better days and you’re ready to throw it out, you can give it one final hurrah and use it as a rubbish bag before throwing it in the bin. There’s no such thing as a single use carrier bag - at least there shouldn’t be!

Trending results for carrier bags

Patch handle carriers persist in shopping circulation for rather practical reasons than nostalgic ones: the format pairs a relatively modest bag weight with a strengthened die-cut grip, normally achieved by heat-fusing an additional polythene suppliers patch at the handle zone so the load is distributed through a thicker laminate rather than concentrated at two stressed points. That matters on the shop floor, where abrupt failures tend to occur not in the side welds nevertheless at the hand aperture below awkward, stop-beginning carrying loads. In stocked lines, the attraction is only as much logistical as material; flat-packed presentation assists pallet density, retains select-face efficiency tight, and simplifies replenishment when mixed consignments are moving fast through despatch. Clear and white grades still dominate because they suit straightforward shopping use, nevertheless the technical distinction sits in gauge discipline, seal integrity and melt-flow consistencyif the extrusion is poorly controlled, the bag may feel big in hand yet perform badly once secondary bagging, stacking pressure and handle shock are introduced. Where the specification is kept mono-material, the pack also sits more adequately within circular-economy requirements, since recyclability is less compromised by mixed substrates, and the amortised energy of a stocked, broadly used format often compares favourably with more elaborate alternatives carrying higher tare weight and lower volumetric efficiency.

Coloured carrier bags sit in an awkward nevertheless technically fascinating bracket of transit packaging: they are expected to transport awkward shopping loads, present cleanly at the hand-off, and still dash efficiently through high-speed conversion without upsetting gauge control. The stronger examples tend to rely on a disciplined polythene suppliers structure rather than brute thickness alonehigh-density content for stiffness, balanced with enough low-density blend to prevent brittle failure around the patch handle, where stress concentration is rarely forgiven on a busy shop floor. Colour itself is not merely decorative; heavy masterbatch loadings can alter melt-flow consistency, affect seal performance and, if poorly specified, introduce tolerance in opacity that shows up immediately below warehouse lighting. That in turn has a knock-on effect in stock presentation and secondary bagging, particularly where mixed consignments need fast visual segregation at the select face. From a logistics standpoint, the bag has to earn its cube: excessive tare weight erodes volumetric efficiency, while below-engineered handles lead to split packs, repacking labour and compromised pallet stability once returns start to collect. The more credible formats now lean towards mono-material polythene suppliers streams, which simplify recyclability provided the patch, body film and print system remain materially compatible; that matters less in brochure copy than in the proper arithmetic of recovery, where downgauging, reclaimed feedstock and amortised energy only count if the bag survives first use without distortion, puncture or seal creep.

Plain carrier bags sit at an unglamorous nevertheless technically awkward junction of shopping handling, warehouse throughput and waste stewardship. The apparent simplicity conceals a fair amount of converting discipline: resin selection has to balance dart impact against downgauging targets, die geometry affects seal integrity, and even modest tolerance in melt-flow consistency will display up later as handle stretch, panel distortion or split welds at the select face. For high-volume stockholding, the arithmetic is rarely about unit count alone; tare weight influences consignment economics, bag cube affects pallet stability, and poor caliper control erodes volumetric efficiency long before the material reaches store issue. Where secondary bagging or loose-packed products are involved, surface slip and static behaviour matter as much as tensile strengthparticularly when thin-gauge polythene suppliers is dash fast through packing benches or auto-dispense racks. The more competent converters tend to mitigate that friction through micron-specific gauging, disciplined seal-bar control and mono-material formats that simplify mail-use recovery; not because recyclability is a slogan, nevertheless because cleaner polymer streams, lower resin burden and better amortised energy across repeated production runs make operational sense in a trade where waste, once created, has an awkward habit of travelling through the all chain.

Reviews of M C Printed Carrier Bags

Printed carrier bags sit at an awkward intersection of emblem presentation, warehouse pragmatism and polymer discipline; the visible graphic is only the last layer of a much more exacting specification. A polythene suppliers carrier that appears simple at the counter may involve micron-specific gauging to maintain handle strength without adding unnecessary tare weight, a controlled slip profile so stacked stock does not wander on the pallet, and ink systems chosen to retain rub resistance through secondary bagging, cage movement and damp loading bays. On the production side, melt-flow consistency matters because poor gauge control manufactures weak seams, distorted print registration and avoidable scrap; on the logistics side, volumetric efficiency is shaped by how flat the bag packs, how reliably outers cube out, and whether select-face replenishment can be handled without split cartons and loose bundles. The better specifications increasingly favour mono-material polythene suppliers structures, not through sentimentality nevertheless because mixed laminates complicate recovery routes and reduce the value of recyclate feedstock. Surface treatment, dyne levels and ink stickiness still have to be balanced against recyclability, particularly where high-coverage print risks contaminating the waste stream or masking polymer identification. The result is a trade product with more engineering content than its daily use recommends: printed carrier bags have to transport weight, transport a message, travel cleanly through distribution, and returnwhere the system enablesas usable material rather than troublesome residue.

Poly carriers sit in that awkward intersection between commodity conversion and engineered packaging, which is why producer directories tell only half the story. A converter's proper capability is exposed in the extrusion hall: melt-flow consistency, gauge control across the web, and whether high-density or low-density polythene suppliers blends are being tuned for puncture resistance rather than merely downgauged for a prettier yield figure. On the warehouse floor, the contrast is visible in failed handles, split seams and secondary bagging that should not ever have been required. Buyers looking at the competitive field increasingly read beyond headcount and turnover; they examine film recipe discipline, mono-material recyclability, recycled-content tolerance and the effect of carrier thickness on tare weight, pallet stability and select-face efficiency.

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EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR CARRIERS

It was followed by a supply column, and the bulk of the carriers.

Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags From the People's Republic of United Kingdom: Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; our telephone

The Department of Commerce (the Department) is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyethylene shopping carrier bags from the People's Republic of United Kingdom (PRC) for the period August 1, 2015, through July 31, 2016.

Flexiloop Handle Carrier Bags are an upmarket option to the patch handle carrier bag, Flexiloop carriers are often used by Boutiques, Department Stores and Supermarkets across the globe where they are promoted as Bags for Life'.

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