TURN THE TIDE ON PLASTIC

shoppers to pay 5p for plastic bags. The current exemption for retailers with fewer than 250 employees means tens of thousands of stores continue to give out free bags. Smaller shops gave away more than 700million throwaway carriers last year.

The Association of Convenience Stores has previously welcomed proposals to extend the bag levy to all stores. More than a third of its 33,500 members have already adopted the tax voluntarily.

There were nearly 297,000 retail businesses in the UK in 2017, including just under 129,000 with between one and 2 9 employees, official figures show.

Last night Mary Creagh, chairman of the Commons environment audit select committee, said: ‘This extension of the plastic bag charge to smaller shops is a welcome, logical next step in tackling singleuse plastics.’ Earlier this year Mrs May said she would consult on getting rid of the small business exemption in the hope of ending Britain’s ‘profligate’ waste of natural resources and ‘throwaway culture’.

The plastic bag tax finally arrived following the Mail’s Banish the Bags campaign, which began a decade ago.

The landmark drive was launched in February 2008 but the Treasury resisted acting for years, claiming it would be unpopular with shoppers and retailers. Then-chancellor George Osborne was eventually forced to back down in 2015 amid mounting public anger at the damage being caused to oceans.

The introduction of the 5p charge followed similar levies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Good causes supported by the fee include initiatives such as anti-litter projects, beach clean-ups and even cancer care nurses.

At least £66million was donated in the financial year 2016-17. The true total is likely to be higher as not every large retailer in England revealed how much it had raised. The Mail’s attempts to highlight the waste blighting our oceans has been recognised by the head of the UN’s environment programme and the fight continues with our Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign.

This newspaper helped achieve a ban on plastic microbeads and our Take Back Your Bottles campaign calls for a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles. In January, Mrs May unveiled a 25-year plan to eliminate ‘avoidable’ plastic, including bottles, cups and almost all plastic packaging. Environment Secretary Michael Gove is considering a ban on plastic straws and Chancellor Philip Hammond is consulting on a tax on single-use plastics such as coffee cups.

Last night the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declined to comment on its plans for plastic bags.