Supermarkets sold 79 million single-use plastic bags last year due to 10p charge
Consumers are increasingly ditching single-use plastic bags over their fee.
Supermarkets sold 79 million single-use plastic bags in the last year because of the 10p bag charge, Government figures have revealed.
This is a drop from 133 million the previous year, the statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed.
The total number of single-use bags sold, including by smaller retailers, was 340 million- down from 606 the previous year.
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The price of the carrier bag was increased to 10p in May 2021 from the 5p charge introduced in 2015.
Rudy Schulkind, political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “The ongoing success of the plastic bag charge is a prime example of what can be achieved with government action.
“But this sort of single-item piecemeal approach to plastic waste could only ever be the start - much bigger action is needed and unfortunately the previous government fumbled this challenge.
“The new government can show real leadership on the plastics crisis by finally bringing forward delayed measures like the deposit return scheme and by pushing for a strong Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic production at this autumn's final round of negotiations.
Most supermarkets now only offer “bags for life” which are not included in the figures.
Some campaigners have called for retailers to increase the prices of those bags because more shoppers now treat them as disposable
