According to a new study, shoppers have decreased the use of plastic bags being doled out at supermarkets by over four billion from 2006 to present.
The study monitored the use of single-use bags showing that it dropped by over 40 per cent over four years to 6.1 billion this year as of May. The figure suggests that the use of recycled bags is on the rise I comparison to 2006 when UK shoppers were going through a record 10.6 billion plastic bags.
According to the British Retail Consortium, which published the report in conjunction with WRAP, the results indicate that there is no need to ban plastic bags or implement a fee for their use. The BRC said that this was the fourth consecutive year that plastic bag use had decreased after supermarkets had begun a pledge to reduce the number of plastic bags handed out by 2009.
Chains that have joined the pledge include the Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Sainbury’s, Waitrose and Asda. BRC’s director general, Stephen Robertson said that the move was a tremendous achievement from supermarkets, consumers and employees particularly since the amount of goods being sold had risen by more than six percent.
He added that the sustained reduction is indicative of the fact that consumers are permanently forming habits of using their recycled bags. The continuous decrease, he said demonstrates that a voluntary approach is effective and that charging a fee for plastic bag use would not be necessary.
Retailers were also able to halve the amount of material weight put into plastic bags making them more eco-friendly. According to recent figures in May, the number of plastic bags handed out dropped 45 per cent from May 2006.
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