The figure throws into question the net benefits of the plastic bag levy.
The levy has seen plastic bag use on the high street reduce by 98% since 2015 but does not apply to online purchases.
New research found that the number of ecommerce plastic bags is set to increase by 40% in the next three years. This would equate to 1.3 billion more plastic delivery bags each year, adding up to 6.9 billion bags in the next five years.
In Europe, the UK is currently the largest individual market for online retail delivery bags.
The country produces 150 million more plastic bags than Germany, which ranks second.
Brands like Zalando have swapped to paper alternatives, but the industry said that supply does not currently meet demand.
Consumer views on ecommerce plastic bags
David Fischer, director of logistics sustainability and packaging at Zalando, said: “Switching from plastic to paper shipping bags has been a game-changer. After introducing our first paper bags, customer satisfaction with our new packaging surged by 16% year over year.
“The high acceptance rate makes us confident that we are on the right track with paper bags that are easy to recycle in the vast majority of Europe.”
In a poll, Censuswide found that 67% of the British public want plastic bags to be phased out where replacements are available.
Additionally, 60% of shoppers say they prefer to receive their shopping wrapped in carboard or paper.
Half of the 2,000 people surveyed said that they “feel guilty” about the amount of plastic their orders come in.
46% said they’d be more likely to order from a fashion retailer that uses easily recyclable packaging.
Recycling of online retail bags
The research found that only 9% of the 941 million plastic bags are reused or recycled.
This means that 857 million bags end up in landfill or being incinerated every year.
This number could increase to one billion plastic bags by 2030 if current growth trends persist.
Moving away from plastic bags
The new research was commissioned by paper packaging company DS Smith and conducted by Development Economics.
DS Smith called for legislation to be extended to online retail to encourage a switch away from plastic.
Stefano Rossi, divisional CEO of packaging at DS Smith, said: “With some of the biggest brands in the world, we estimate that we’ve already replaced more than one billion pieces of plastic over the last four years – but we must do more.
“It will be tempting for businesses to fixate on price, but sticking with plastic comes at a cost – consumers don’t want it, and brands risk their reputation by ignoring that.
“We think legislation can and should be more demanding of us all – phasing out certain plastics to help create a level playing field that encourages innovation, investment, and generates healthy competition to replace plastic.”
Fischer from Zalando added: “Eliminating single-use plastics remains a key obstacle to the ecommerce industry for achieving their sustainability goals.
“Finding the perfect solution is a complex task, especially in a landscape where more sustainable alternatives are not yet fully scalable or may not meet the minimum requirements both in terms of sustainability and operational feasibility.”
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