PM Gives Britains Supermarkets Plastic Bag Ultimatum

29 September 2011

With the number of single-use carrier bags rising last year by 333m - a 5 percent increase from the previous year - Prime Minister, David Cameron, has told Supermarkets to cut the number of bags used or be forced to charge

The Prime Minister has announced it is "unacceptable" that the number of single-use carrier bags rose last year by 333m - a 5 per cent increase from the previous year and has warned that unless stores deliver "significant falls" over the next 12 months, supermarkets could either see a blanket ban on single use carriers or be legally required to charge customers for them.

Single use plastic bags, used for an average of 20 minutes, take up to 1,000 years to degrade with around 70 bags littering every mile of coastline.

It has been rumoured that major retailers will be expected to cut the number by at least the 333m required to reverse the latest increase.　

The Prime Minister told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I am very concerned about the use of single-use carrier bags and the effect that they have on the environment.　

"Companies like M&S have considerably reduced the use of bags by charging and then donating the money raised to charity - £4m has already gone to good causes since they started charging in 2008 and they are doing more to clean up beaches over the next few years.

"But progress overall went backwards last year, and that is unacceptable. Retailers need to do better. I want to see significant falls again. I know that retailers want to do better too but if they don't I will be asking them to explain why not.

"Retailers also need to know that the Government has options at its disposal - including regulating as other countries have done. We will continue to look carefully at all options in order to make sure that we further reduce the use of single-use plastic bags."

Commencing Saturday (1 October), shoppers in Wales will be the first in Britain to have to hand over 5p for carrier bags, whether at supermarket checkouts or in small village shops.

The money raised will go to good causes, and any firm that flouts the law faces a £5,000 fine.

Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government are considering similar charges. The Republic of Ireland began charging 16p each for single-use plastic bags in 2002 and has reduced the number handed out by 90 percent.

Last year, 6.4bn single-use carriers were handed out in the UK. A UK-wide bags charge could raise tens of millions of pounds a year - as much as £50m - for good causes and charities.

Darrel Moore