Plastic bag sales in big supermarkets in England have halved in the last year. Asda, the Co-op, Morrison, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose sold 549 million single use bags in 2018-19; this figure is down from one billion in the previous year.
Since the 5p charge was introduced in 2015 the number of single use bags used is now down by 90%. On average customers now buy 10 bags a year compared to 140 bags in 2014.
Plastic bag sales this year by supermarket:
- Morrisons – down 64%
- Tesco – down 64%
- Asda – down 45%
- Marks and Spencer – down 40%
- Co-op – down 21%
- Waitrose – down 20%
- Sainsbury’s – down 1%
Across the world, more than 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced a year and around eight million of this plastic will enter the ocean. Each year 100,000 animals in the sea are killed by plastic.
Welcoming today’s figures, Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said: “Our comprehensive action to slash plastic waste and leave our environment in a better state continues to deliver results, with our 5p charge reducing plastic bag sales by 90% in the big supermarkets.
“No one wants to see the devastating impact plastic waste is having on our precious wildlife. Today’s figures are a powerful demonstration that we are collectively calling time on being a throwaway society.”
