Bag charges found to cut waste

The introduction of charges for single-use bags in Britain has cut bag waste by as much as 80 per cent, according to figures from high street retailers.

Marks & Spencer, which has charged 5p (13 cents) per bag for 12 months said bag usage had dropped from 460 million to 80 million bags a year.

The National Trust, which introduced a charge last year in its shops and garden centres, said it had cut plastic bag usage by 85 per cent, or 1 million bags a year. It said just 5 per cent of its customers were now taking the disposable option.

New Zealand retailers such as the Warehouse have recently introduced charges for plastic bags.

Marks & Spencer has also managed to persuade its customers to remember to take along their own bags when they hit the shops. "The main driver for the reduction is people bringing in an alternative bag, either a plastic or cloth bag with them when they shop with us," a spokeswoman told the Guardian newspaper.