Rise in supermarket carrier bag use in 2013

Customers at UK supermarkets used 8.3bn single-use carrier bags in 2013, according to figures published today (July 15) by WRAP a 3.2% increase from the near 8.1bn used during the previous year.

It is the fourth year running that the figures have shown an increase in single-use carrier bag usage at UK supermarkets.

However, the data also shows that the overall weight of single-use supermarket carrier bags used by customers fell by around 3,500 tonnes in 2013, despite the increase in the number of bags used.

In addition, the WRAP data shows that there was a 4.8% increase in virgin polymer used in all carrier bags including re-usable bags between 2012 and 2013.

But, this is against a 48% reduction in the amount of virgin polymer used in all carrier bags since 2006, when WRAP first began reporting on carrier bag use at the request of the UK and devolved governments.

According to WRAP, single use thin-gauge bags constitute 95% of all bags used by customers at UK supermarkets. Supermarkets participating in the WRAP study were: Asda, Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd, Tesco and Waitrose.

In Northern Ireland, the introduction of a charge for single-use carrier bags in April 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story) coincided with a 71% fall in the number of such bags used at supermarkets between 2012 and 2013.

Meanwhile, supermarket customer use of single-use bags increased in each of England, Scotland and Wales between 2012 and 2013.

A 5p plastic bag levy is set to be introduced in Scotland later this year (see letsrecycle.com story) and also in England in October 2015, although Defra appears to be stepping away from initial plans for an exemption for biodegradable bags (see letsrecycle.com story).

Number of thin-gauge carrier bags (bags by billions)

***** In April 2013 Northern Ireland introduced a charge for single use carrier bags. The data therefore represents a period when such bags were free for three months but charged for nine months.

British Retail Consortium

Responding to the WRAP data, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that although the figures saw an increase in 2013, this should not detract from a significant reduction in carrier bag usage since 2006, when the number used was 12.2 billion.

However, the BRC said that it has concerns, however, that new legislation proposed in England, to reduce the number of bags, will not deliver the same environmental benefit as in the rest of the UK, adding that the government in England has produced an unnecessarily complex system that will confuse shoppers and not deliver the same results as elsewhere.

BRC environment policy adviser, Alice Ellison, said: The reductions in Wales and Northern Ireland indicate that legislation can trigger significant reductions in carrier bag use. However, the proposed regulations in England are unnecessarily complex and offer too many exemptions.

She added: Supermarkets environmental work extends well beyond carrier bags to wider and more important green goals including reducing packaging, domestic food waste and waste to landfill. Retailers have beaten a range of challenging Government targets in these areas, delivering real environmental benefits as well as value for customers.

Wales

In Wales, the single-use carrier bag usage increased by 18% between 2012 and 2013, although there has been an overall 79% fall in usage since 2010. The Welsh Government introduced a 5p charge on carrier bags in October 2011.

Responding to the figures, John Griffiths Welsh minister for Natural Resource, Culture and Sport praised Welsh supermarket customers for the decline in bag usage since 2010.

Mr Griffiths said: People in Wales have adapted extremely well to our 5p carrier bag charge which was introduced in October 2011 and supermarkets across Wales are full of people reusing shopping bags.

These latest figures show that consumption of carrier bag use in Wales has reduced by 79% since 2010, and this really is an excellent result, however there is no room for complacency.

Our 5p carrier bag charge really has had a significant impact on shopping habits across Wales and it is helping us to become a less wasteful society. I would urge everyone to keep up the good work and reuse bags whenever possible.