Sales of plastic carrier bags in England’s biggest supermarkets have dropped by 90% since 2015, when the 5p charge was introduced.
Government figures released on Thursday showed the decrease across Tesco, Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons and The Co-operative Group in the last four years.
The average English shopper will now use just 10 bags a year, compared to 140 before the charge came in, according to the figures.
Despite the decline, the period 2018-2019 still saw the big names sell 549 million plastic bags – down from one billion in the previous year.
[Read More: Are Tote Bags Environmentally Friendly? Here’s Why You Should Think Twice Before Accepting Another One]
“England is lagging behind Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales where the charge applies to all retailers regardless of size...”
The plastic bag fee came into effect in England on 5 October 2015, with all supermarkets and large stores legally required to charge a minimum of 5p.
The charge applied to all single-use plastic bags at checkouts and in-store.
England is lagging behind Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, though, where the charge applies to all retailers regardless of size. In England, the fee only applies to shops with more than 250 employees.
Environment Secretary, Theresa Villiers, said the measure “continues to deliver results”, saying: “No one wants to see the devastating impact plastic waste is having on our precious wildlife.
“Today’s figures are a powerful demonstration that we are collectively calling time on being a throwaway society.”
A consultation was launched by the government in December 2018 to investigate raising the minimum fee to 10p to further discourage shoppers from buying a bag. The change could come into effect as soon as January 2020.
In the meantime, some supermarkets have made their own self-generated pledges to cut back on the amount of plastic and packaging they use.
Asda recently vowed to ditch plastic carrier bags for online shopping, while Boots announced in June that it will get rid of them completely in favour of paper bags.