Extension of plastic bag charge announced

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has announced that the single-use carrier bag charge will be extended to all retailers and increased to 10p from April 2021.

The latest statistics show the current levy, which stands at 5p and applies to any retailer employing 250 or more people, has led to a 95 per cent cut in plastic bag sales in major supermarkets since 2015.

It is also believed that the average person in England now buys just four bags a year from the main supermarkets, compared with 140 in 2014.

The government says that the latest announcement, which marks the latest move to clamp down on plastic pollution, will drive this success even further and take the UK closer to its ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste through the 25 Year Environment Plan and build back greener after coronavirus.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “We have all seen the devastating impact plastic bags have on the oceans and on precious marine wildlife, which is why we are taking bold and ambitious action to tackle this issue head on. The UK is already a world-leader in this global effort, and our carrier bag charge has been hugely successful in taking billions of harmful plastic bags out of circulation. But we want to go further by extending this to all retailers so we can continue to cut unnecessary waste and build back greener. I hope our pioneering track record on single-use plastics will inspire many more countries to follow suit, so we can take on plastic waste together and implement lasting change.”

The government will also introduce a new world-leading tax on plastic packaging which does not meet a minimum threshold of at least 30 per cent recycled content from April 2022, subject to consultation.