Plastic bag use has dropped in England, according to Defra

Large retailers in England, namely, Asda, Marks and Spencer’s, Sainsbury, Tesco, The Co-operative Group, Waitrose, and Morrisons, have been required by law to charge customers 5p for plastic bags, and now the outcome of that measure has finally been published. Overall, the seven retailers issued 83% fewer plastic bags in 2016 to 2017 than they did in 2014. Retailers have also shifted to using either paper bags or reusable bags.

So where did the 5p per bag go? The retailers donated the money to various causes, such as charities, research, education, arts, and sports, among many others. A summary of the findings and the full dataset are available on www.data.gov.uk.

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