Vending

India develops vending machines to offer cloth shopping bags

Image provided by iStock.

May 23, 2022

Shoppers in India will soon be able to buy cloth shopping bags from vending machines, supporting the government's initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags, according to a report in The Hindu.

The machine, currently in test phase, can hold 40 such bags, each of which costs 10 rupees (13 cents).

Supriya Sahu, secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said the machines will be placed in markets and bus stops.

Sahu said the machines are not intended to be permanent but to encourage shoppers to get in the habit of using such bags.