(English) Plastic bag use plummets in England since 5p charge

Wales introduced a levy in 2011, followed by Northern Ireland in 2013 and Scotland in 2014. They saw reductions in bag use of 76%, 71% and 80%, respectively, in the first year after the fee was established.

The charge means all retailers with more than 250 full-time employees are required to charge a minimum of 5p to customers for single-use, plastic carrier bags, but paper bags are exempt.

Over the six months since the charge was introduced, said the government.

A total of 1.1 billion single-use carrier bags were sold by large retailers who registered and reported data

The net proceeds from the levy came to £41.3m

At least £29.2m was donated to good causes, such as environmental, education, health, arts, charity or voluntary groups

Just over two-thirds of retailers voluntarily provided information on the amount donated and the type of good causes it spent the donations on

Environment Minister Therese Coffey said the reduction in the number of bags being used was “fantastic news”.

This reduction in plastic could benefit the environment, especially the oceans.

A report published in the journal Science   in 2015 estimated that about eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in global waters each year.