Shoppers want carrier bag cash to go to charity

That is the verdict of people taking part in a survey on the move, which came into force and will see all shops with more than 250 workers in Rotherham and across the UK charging 5p per plastic bag.

Insurance company Saga found 75 per cent of those questioned favoured the charge but said all the companies involved should pledge to donate the proceeds to charity.

The number of single-use carrier bags handed out by supermarkets in England rose for a fifth consecutive year in 2014.

Last year 7.6billion bags or 140 bags per person were given out.

Carrier bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down.

Saga’s Paul Green said: “Some retailers have already announced they will do the right thing, but others might want to take their lead if they don't want to lose customers to their more virtuous competitors.”

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy welcomed the move as “the biggest step forward against littering in England in ten years”.

A spokesman said: “Plastic bags are one of the most highly visible forms of litter on our streets, roads, hedges, parks, trees, beaches and, ultimately, in our oceans, all with potentially devastating effects.

“This is hardly surprising when over eight billion bags are used by shoppers every year.

“Keep Britain Tidy has campaigned for years for the introduction of the charge, along with other environmental charities, as part of the "Break the Bag Habit" coalition.

“In Wales, where a bag charge has been in place since 2011, there has been a reduction in bag use of around 70 per cent.”

Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain tidy’s chief executive, said: “This is the first government action in a decade that is specifically designed to tackle our country's litter issue.

“We hope the charge will see a significant reduction in the use, and subsequent littering, of plastic bags.”

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