How much has changed almost 10 years since supermarkets started charging for bags

Believe it or not, it has nearly been 10 long years since the 5p carrier bag charge was introduced on October 5, 2015.

A whopping 7.6 billion single-use carrier bags were handed out to shoppers completely free before this date- something that would be unheard of now.

But fast-forward a decade and how much has this scheme really helped and has it benefitted consumers?

We take a look back at the scheme which at the time for many was pretty controversial to say the least.

Why were 5p bags first introduced?

The scheme was introduced by the then Tory government under Prime Minister David Cameron to reduce the use of single-use carrier bags and the huge amount of litter they can cause.

Before the charge was introduced, around 140 bags were given out for free per person each year – the equivalent to 61,000 tonnes in total, according to the Department for Environmental and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Single-use carrier bags also take longer than other bags to degrade in the environment, can damage wildlife and are extremely visible when littered in towns, parks and the countryside.

It all got too much and the government had to step forward and take some action.

This is because research by Defra found the average household had 40 plastic bags just lying around the house – despite the number of plastic bags taken from supermarkets increasing for the fifth year running in 2014.

The new 5p charge would therefore aim to encourage shoppers to bring along their own reusable bags.

In many shops across the UK these bags are known as ‘bags for life’ and are much better for the environment.

Even once these are worn out, you can return them to the shops and get a free replacement.

So really, it is a win win situation.

What has the impact been since the 5p charge was introduced?

In the grand scheme of things, there has been a pretty drastic change for the better.

By the time of 2019/20, supermarkets supplied just 564 million single-use carrier bags in 2019-20, a reduction of over 7.4 billion bags compared to 2014, according to waste reduction charity Wrapped.

The number of bags used has also fallen by 95% in England and it doesn’t stop there because £180m has also been raised for good causes from the revenue collected.

To add to all of this, on May 21, 2021, the charge for single-use carrier bags increased to a minimum of 10p.

According to Defra, this is expected to make an even bigger difference over the next decade.

Phasing out the use of single-use plastic carrier bags has also had a positive impact in our oceans, with the number of plastic bags found on UK beaches down 80% over a decade.

The news is so good that the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has urged other countries to follow the UK’s good example.

The MCS found in 2023 an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.

It said this is undoubtedly down to the introduction of mandatory charges because the number of bags found started to decrease in 2015.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch programme manager at MCS, told The Guardian: ‘It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bags working.

‘We must move quicker towards a society that repairs, reuses and recycles.’

But it is not all good news because drinks-related litter increased by 14% in Scotland and 7% in England in 2023, compared to 2022.

Overall there has been a 1.2% increase in plastic litter across the UK, with an average of 167 items per 100 metres.

Crisp and sandwich wrappers, caps and lids, plastic string and cord and plastic bottles and containers are the top five culprits.

So while we have all got to grips with single-use plastic bags, there’s still a long way to go to end littering entirely.

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