Plastic bag use in supermarkets has fallen by 80% since a charge was levied on them six months ago, and raised £1million for good causes.
Shoppers have been charged fife-pence-a-bag since October last year in an attempt to cut down on litter and increase recycling efforts. Nationwide retailers that signed up to Zero Waste Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment – an agreement to disclose information on the charge, and donations made, to a central publicly available portal – are reporting that various charities up and down the country have benefited from funds raised by the charge.
Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said:
“Over the past six months, we’ve seen an incredible change to shopping habits in Scotland. Shoppers have embraced the 5p charge and rapidly reduced their consumption of single-use carrier bags more readily than we ever hoped.
“I’d like to thank all the founding signatories published today, to our Carrier BagCommitment, and urge more retailers to join them. Initial feedback from signatories suggests that more than £1 million has been raised for good causes in Scotland and by embracing the 5p single-use bag charge, businesses and shoppers are helping reduce waste and repair the damage already done. We can all be proud of that.”
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