Plastic Bag Charges Lead Entrepreneurs To Try To Sell Carriers On Gumtree And Ebay

Entrepreneurs Sell Plastic Bags Online For 'Mates Rates'

The “chaos” predicted by tabloids failed to materialise when the new carrier bag charge came into force on Monday - but some people are still hoping to make a quick buck from the change.

According to the Sun, James Redland has been offering to sell “lightly used” carriers from Tesco at a 50% discount on Gumtree.

He said: “I’ve got loads lying around. By undercutting Tesco, I can make a go of it.”

It was unclear if anyone had yet paid 2.5p for any of the bags on offer.

Used bags from several supermarkets also began to appear on eBay, with user pheasant-pluckers offering 25 from a selection of brands for just £1.

Several other entrepreneurial individuals on Twitter also seemed to consider the new rules a business opportunity…

Welsh supermarkets have been charging 5p for a plastic bag since 2011 and, as a result, have seen 71% fewer single plastic bags used and a 57% reduction in the overall use of all bags due to a rise in reusable bags for life.

Furthermore, the 5p charges have raised an estimated £17 to £22 million in donations to good causes.

Using the Welsh statistics, an infographic from pesonalise.co.uk predicts that England can expect to use 5.4 billion fewer single use bags and between £425 and £550 million raised for good causes by the 5p charge.

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