Plastic bag use 'down 48%'

The UK's leading supermarket retailers have cut the number of single-use carrier bags given to customers significantly over the last three years.

According to waste awareness group Wrap, use of non-reusable bags fell by 48 per cent in the last year.

The number of carrier bags handed out per month now stands at around 420 million.

Scotland and Wales achieved the biggest reductions in single-bag use.
However, the UK failed to reach the 50 per cent target set by the Scottish Government, Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment.

Commenting on the results, Liz Goodwin, chief executive of Wrap, said: "The overall 48 per cent reduction in single-use carrier bags by the participating retailers demonstrates the continued rate of progress in this area, despite falling just short of the target figure."

In related news, the Local Government Association is now calling on supermarkets to make public the amount of packaging waste they produce

Written by Claire Manning