This follows the introduction of the carrier bag charge which was introduced in 2014.
According to figures published by Defra, the 102 retailers in England who reported data sold a total of 437 million carrier bags, representing a 7% increase compared to 2023/24.
The seven largest retailers – Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Co-operative Group and Waitrose – also reported a 6% increase from last year, selling nine million more bags.
Describing the impact of disposal, David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs and Reconomy Connect, said: “As a country, the UK remains far too reliant on the extraction of virgin materials to satisfy consumption demand with only 6.9% of resources making their way back into the economy.
“This material extraction is driving unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions and the UK is consuming virgin resources faster than the world can regenerate them.”
Despite this increase, the latest figures still represented a 79% reduction in sales compared to 2016/17. Tesco and Waitrose have reported that they had sold no single-use plastic carrier bags since 2022-23.
Prior to the introduction of the charge, WRAP reported that the main retailers in England issued 7.6 billion single-use carrier bags in 2014. This amount has reduced by over 7.4 billion bags, a decrease of almost 98%.
However, Gudgeon suggested that the 2024-25 data is a warning sign: “This data shows that there is a long way to go before we are a truly circular economy and greater efforts must be made to drive behavioural change and help businesses close circularity gaps and decouple growth from resource use.
“This is the most effective way for businesses to lower costs and cut their carbon footprint while contributing to a more waste-free, sustainable world.”
Recent surveying from City to Sea revealed that almost half of UK consumers want to see a charge on all single-use packaging, similar to the carrier bag levy.
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