Six billion fewer plastic bags used thanks to charge

Shoppers are set to take home six billion fewer plastic bags this year as a result of the five pence charge, the government says.

In the six months since the charge was introduced shoppers have taken home half a billion single-use carrier bags and £29m has been raised for charity.

This is a dramatic decrease on the estimated seven billion bags taken home in 2014.

The charge was introduced in October 2015 to cut down on litter. Around eight million tonnes of plastic gets into the oceans each year and experts estimate it is ingested by 31 species of marine mammals and over 100 species of sea birds.

The six billion bags saved by the policy is the equivalent in weight of roughly 300 blue whales, 300,000 sea turtles or three million pelicans.

‘Taking six billion plastic