Plastic bag use is 95% less in England

Plastic carrier bag sales have dropped more than 95% in England's main supermarkets since the 5p charge was introduced, says the UK Government.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) reports a 59% drop in plastic carrier bag sales in the last year alone in England's main supermarkets, with charities receiving nearly £180mln since 2015.

Defra says that in the last year Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, The Co-operative Group, Tesco and Waitrose sold 226 million bags, 322 million fewer than in 2018/19.

Accordingly, the average person in England only buys four bags a year from main supermarket retailers, compared to 10 last year and 140 in 2014.

The 5p charge currently applies to all retailers employing more than 250 people, and government has consulted on extending this to all businesses and increasing the minimum charge to 10p.