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OP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    261 year ago

    It’s heartening to see that a small change can make such a big difference. Good luck trying to get the Tories to take that message onboard though.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      91 year ago

      I was surprised myself, 10p a time adds up. Being so cheap it was easy enough to carry 2 large clothe bags in my backpack everywhere. Saved a fortune over the years over paying for plastic bags.