5p charge leads to a 78% cut in bag use at Tesco
TESCO is handing out 30million fewer plastic bags every week since the introduction of the 5p charge.
Their figures prove the levy – introduced in England last October to tackle the blight and waste associated with the ‘plastic poison’ – has been a remarkable success.
It represents a 78 per cent reduction in the number of bags bought by customers compared to the number previously handed out free. If the trend is maintained, it would mean the supermarket issuing 1.56billion fewer a year.
Historically, those bags that weren’t left to litter the street would end up being dumped in landfill.
As well as cutting bag use, money raised from the charge is being donated by high street retailers to charities and community groups.
As a result, organisations involved in everything from tackling litter to cancer care nurses are being given a financial lifeline.
The decision to introduce the charge in England followed the earlier adoption of the scheme in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Tesco and the other main supermarkets – other than Marks & Spencer, which led the way on the green initiative – fought tooth and nail to kill off the idea.
Now, they are fully behind it. The turnaround is a vindication for the Daily Mail’s Banish the Bags campaign, which prompted the change in the law to allow the introduction of the 5p charge.
Tesco says it is in a position to give away £11.5million raised from the charge in England, Scotland and Wales since last October. Its Bags of Help scheme will offer grants of £8,000, £10,000 and £12,000 to charities and groups across the UK for spending on environmental improvement projects.
Customers will be able to vote for the project they think most deserves the bumper £12,000 grant. It is expected that more than 1,000 community projects will benefit.
The scheme – to be administered by UK environmental improvement charity Groundwork – will support new parks, sports facilities, woodland walks and community gardens.
Groundwork national chief executive, Graham Duxbury, said the grants will make a real difference. ‘ Having worked alongside communities across the UK for 35 years we’ve always known that local people know best on how to improve the places that matter to them,’ he said.
‘Offering Tesco customers the chance to vote on which project receives the top grant is a great way for them to have a real say on where their money is spent and how the communities they live in are improved.’
Tesco’s UK chief executive, Matt Davies, said: ‘We wanted to give our customers the chance to choose the environmental projects they most want to benefit through the bag charge.
‘Our customers will help us make sure the money raised through the charge goes to make the biggest difference to local communities up and down the country.’