Marks & Spencer sees 80 per cent drop in carrier bag use

Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph 24 Jul 08;

Forcing customers to pay for plastic carrier bags has seen a drop of 80 per cent in the number handed out at Marks & Spencer.

The store chain made a landmark decision at the beginning of May to start charging 5p for the bags, to encourage a switch to green reusable alternatives.

Over the past ten weeks, 70million fewer have been handed out at its tills compared with the same period a year ago.

Profits from the M&S charges, which have topped £200,000, are going to the charity Groundwork - which runs projects to create new parks and play areas.

The Government has given the rest of the High Street, specifically the "big four" supermarkets, until next April to adopt the M&S regime voluntarily.

If they fail to do so, the Government will force stores to adopt charges under proposals included in the Climate Change Bill, now going through Parliament.

Shops in Britain hand out almost 13billion plastic bags every year. They are used for an average of just 20 minutes before being dumped in the bin.

Most end up in landfill sites where they can take up to 1,000 years to rot away, while others blight the landscape, harming wildlife and causing an eyesore.

Sir Stuart Rose, the M&S chairman, said: "It is fair to say that the M&S carrier bag charging policy has provoked a lot of debate.

"These figures show that the overwhelming majority of our customers support charging and are already helping us to make a huge difference by bringing their own bags in with them."