News
Supermarkets cut plastic bag use by 48%, says Wrap
Carrier bag usage has almost halved in the past three years, according to new data from Wrap.
British Retail Consortium members distributed 452m bags in May, a reduction of 48% compared to May 2006.The figure is just short of the 50% reduction target set by central and devolved governments last year.
Barry Turner, chariman of the Carrier Bag Consortium, said he was disappointed at the continued focus on carrier-bag numbers.
"The environmental impact has been overlooked as have some of the other good things that the supermarkets have been doing such as including more recycled content and reducing the gauge of the bags," he said.
Turner also criticised the media for turning it into a negative news story about missed targets. "There's been a lot of good work to deliver real environmental benefits."
Wrap said 5.6bn bags would still be used in 2009 if the trend continued at the same rate, down from 10.7bn in 2006.
Chief executive Liz Goodwin said Wrap would continue to work for further reductions. "The overall 48% reduction in single-use carrier bags by the participating retailers demonstrates the progress in this area, despite falling short of the target."
The total weight of plastic bags, both single-use and reusable, used in May was 4,740 tonnes, 47% less than in 2006.
Northern Ireland lags behind the other UK nations. It has reduce bag usage by 38% England used 48% fewer bags and Scotland and Wales 49%.
Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson welcomed the reductions. But she said it justified introducing charges for single-use bags.
"These figures demonstrate that the voluntary approach will only achieve so much. I want to look at how we can further reduce the amount of single-use bags people use and encourage them to re-use bags," she said.
Asda, Co-operative Group, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose are included in the reduction scheme, but not Morrisons, which is not a BRC member.
CARRIER BAG USAGE
(million single-use bags in May 2009)
UK 870 (48% reduction on May 2006)
England 714 (48%)
Northern Ireland 19.8 (38%)
Scotland 78.4 (49%)
Wales 53.2 (49%)
Wrap: bag use cut from 10.7bn to 5.6bn a year
