5p charge on plastic bags could slash use by 71%

THE number of plastic bags used in England could fall by 71 per cent when a 5p charge comes in next month – if the policy’s results in Wales are repeated, figures have revealed.

From October 5, all large retailers will have to charge customers for each bag they take, with the majority of the money raised going to charity.

The policy is designed to reduce the single use of plastic carrier bags – and the tons of litter associated with them – and encourage customers to either reuse plastic bags or buy shops’ ‘bags for life’.

British supermarkets gave out a staggering 8.5billion plastic bags in 2014 – an increase of 200million from the previous year.

Now a report has revealed that since the launch of the scheme in Wales in 2011, the number of plastic bags given away by shops there has fallen by 71 per cent.

In a boost for supporters of the English scheme – a victory for the Daily Mail’s Banish The Bags campaign to limit damage to the environment from plastic bags – the study also found almost three- quarters of people in Wales now back the charge, up from 61 per cent when it was introduced.

Only 13 per cent of retailers reported that the ban on handing out free bags had had a negative impact on their business, while between £17million and £22million from the sale of plastic bags has gone to good causes.

Welcoming the findings, Welsh natural resources minister Carl Sargeant said: ‘We wanted the people of Wales to get into the habit of reusing their bags when shopping.

‘I am pleased that, almost four years on from the introduction of the charge, consumer habits appear to be changing, which is having a positive knock-on effect on the environment as well as raising a significant amount of money for good causes.’

Similar 5p charges are already in place across Scotland and Northern Ireland, although critics have questioned why the scheme does not extend to small and medium-sized stores.

Ministers have also been accused of a cynical tax grab after it emerged that VAT will apply to sales of bags, meaning the Treasury will pocket almost 1p for each one sold, and stands to make around £19million a year.

A report earlier this week revealed that 90 per cent of seabirds have swallowed plastic that has been dumped in the ocean – and scientists warned that by 2050, at current rates of pollution, that figure could reach 99 per cent.

There are now about 580,000 pieces of plastic, from carrier bags and packaging, per square kilometre of sea. If swallowed, it can block birds’ guts, choke them to death or poison their internal organs.

It is hoped that the 5p charge for plastic bags in England will reduce their use by between 75 and 80 per cent.