UK: Tesco reports 78% fall in plastic bag use | Progresiv

Since the UK government's levy was introduced two months ago, Tesco has seen a 78% reduction in the number of plastic bags used by its customers, theguardian.com reports. The change occasioned by the 5p fee for a single-use plastic bag has resulted in numbers of such bags used shrinking by ten per cent more than Tesco had forecast. The money generated by the levy will be distributed to charitable causes.

Tesco said, “We knew the government’s bag charge would encourage our customers to use fewer plastic bags and it’s clearly had a huge impact.

“We wanted to do as much as we could to help our customers avoid paying the charge – the week before the charge was introduced we gave out free bags for life, and we’ve been sharing helpful hints and tips on how customers can cut down the number of bags they use. “We’re also working with our customers to make sure the millions of pounds that will be raised from the bag charge go towards making a real difference for our local communities.” (www.esmmagazine.com)