10p bag charge in the UK turns the tide on plastic waste

Billions of harmful plastic bags have been stopped thanks to the single-use carrier bag charge, new figures reveal today. The 5p charge was introduced in supermarkets in 2015 and since then usage at the main retailers has dropped by a staggering 97%. Meanwhile, over £200 million has been voluntarily donated by retailers to good causes in that time. As a result of the charge, the average person in England now buys around three single-use carrier bags a year from the main supermarkets, compared with around 140 in 2014. The charge…

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Co-op bans single-use plastics and unveils compostable carrier bags

The Co-op announced an end to single-use plastic. It will see around 60 million plastic carrier bags removed in a phased rollout and replaced with an environmentally-friendly alternative. The move is part of a new hard-hitting ethical strategy to be launched later this week by the Co-op, which will tackle plastic pollution as well as food waste, healthy eating, saving energy and trading fairly. The blue-print sets out how the Co-op will ban single-use own-brand plastic products and reduce its overall use of plastic packaging within five years and stop…

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Waitrose & Partners commits to removing 134m plastic bags

Waitrose & Partners has announced that it has committed to removing loose fruit and vegetable plastic bags by spring 2019 and 5p single use plastic carrier bags by March next year in all shops. The move will save 134 million plastic bags, the equivalent of 500 tonnes of plastic a year.   The retailer will become the first nationwide supermarket to remove the fruit and vegetable plastic bags and introduce a home compostable alternative. This will be trialled first in a small number of shops at a date to be…

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