The cost, which will apply for all retailers with 250 or more full-time staff members, is expected to dramatically lower the number of plastic bags taken from stores. It follows the success of comparable schemes in Scotland as well as Wales– in Wales the charge led to a 79 percent decrease in plastic bags in three years.

In 2014, 7.64 billion single use plastic bags were given out by major supermarkets in England.Environment Minister Rory Stewart said:

• The more bags we take from the shops, the more plastic makes its way into our environment, blighting our high streets, spoiling our enjoyment of the countryside, and damaging our wildlife and marine environments.
• Simple changes to our shopping routines, such as taking our own bags with us or using more bags for life, can make a huge difference in reducing the amount of plastic in circulation meaning we can all enjoy a cleaner, healthier country.
• Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have seen a dramatic fall in the number of plastic bags taken from supermarkets and we can expect a significant reduction in England, possibly by as much as 80% in supermarkets and 50% on the high street.

Plastic bags can have a significant effect on the environment- around eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in our seas every year, polluting our marine environment and harming our valuable sea life.

Great causes are set to take advantage of the cost, and as long as ₤ 730 million could be contributed to charities and not-for-profits over 10 years.
Watch this brief video for consumers and others describing the 5p fee for single-use plastic carrier bags:

From 5 October 2015, huge stores in England will need to charge five pence for all single consumption plastic provider bags they give. In 2013, the major grocery stores in England offered over 7.4 billion plastic bags– that’s 133 bags for each person. To secure our environment from litter and also pollution we are committed to bringing this code down.

The 5 pence cost on single usage plastic carrier bags could lower usage by as high as 80 % in the big supermarkets. Small sellers don’t need to ask for yet can do so on a voluntary basis. You can prevent paying the charge either by recycling solitary consumption plastic provider bags, or using multi-use bags forever. You additionally won’t pay the five pence fee if you’re using a paper bag, if you’re in transit, or if your bag only contains particular products, such as unwrapped food, raw meat and fish, prescribed medications, uncovered blades, seeds, light bulbs and also flowers, or live fish.

Merchants need to monitor how many plastic bags they’ve handed out and also where the profits have actually gone … and also report this to Government by 31 May each year. We anticipate great causes to benefit from the cost by tens of millions of extra pounds every year.