The number of plastic carrier bags that Scottish supermarkets give out to customers has decreased by nearly 50 per cent over the past three years.
Seven supermarkets in the country agreed to participate in the voluntary scheme set up by the Scottish government, which aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags given out by half.
The result was that approximately 39 million fewer plastic carrier bags were given out in May of this year than in May of 2006, or a reduction of 49.4 per cent, according to figures released last week.
After the launch of the scheme in Scotland, a similar initiative was adopted throughout the UK.
The figures, which were released jointly by the government of Scotland and British Retail Consortium (BRC), documented the reduction in bags given out at Scottish supermarkets ASDA, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose during the past three years.
A target of a reduction of 50 per cent in the number of plastic bags given out had been set by the Scottish Government for that time period. The actual reduction was equivalent to around 460 million plastic carrier bags given out annually.
Richard Lochhead, the environment secretary, said: “This is fantastic news and another major step towards a zero waste Scotland. I’d like to thank every member of the public and all the retailers and their staff who helped us achieve this remarkable cut in carrier bag use.”
Thanks to news.bbc.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
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