Ministers urged to learn from success of single-use bag fee, amid criticism that other measures have been delayed

Environmental campaigners have called on the government to learn from its own successes after official figures showed the use of single-use supermarket plastic bags had fallen 98% since retailers in England began charging for them in 2015.

Annual distribution of plastic carrier bags by seven leading grocery chains plummeted from 7.6bn in 2014 to 133m last year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Monday.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OPAEnglish
    15·
    11 months ago

    I’m not sure I understand - I often walk to the shops and will stuff a plastic bag or two in my pocket. If I was buying any more than that, I’d be taking the car.

    • mtchristo@lemm.eeEnglish
      15·
      11 months ago

      I’d rather have my plastic bags reused for garbage, than have to always remember to carry around plastic bags, I like to shop after work on my way home. reusing them make them very easy to tear sometime and have to deal with a mess in the middle of the road

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OPAEnglish
        8·
        11 months ago

        I’ve been doing this since they were free (as it seems very wasteful to get new bags each time) and you just get into the habit of always having a bag to hand. It’s not a big deal.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        11 months ago

        They’re bags for life. If they’re damaged the cashier will replace it for free.

      • GreatAlbatrossMAEnglish
        6·
        11 months ago

        The motto “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is an order of operations.

        Recycling is great, but avoiding the item in the first place is even better.

      • mortrek@lemmy.mlEnglish
        4·
        11 months ago

        At least where I live in the US, the plastic bags that they charge for are usually significantly stronger than the old ones and can easily be reused over and over. Not quite at the level of canvas bags, however.