Tide turns against the plastic bag

The days of the free plastic bag may be numbered, as Marks & Spencer has become the first major retailer to announce it will stop offering them.

From the beginning of May, the retailer plans to introduce a 5p charge for each carrier bag "to encourage customers to reduce the number of bags they use". The money raised will go to environmental charity Groundwork.

In preparation for the charge, M&S will be giving away a free 'bag for life' to food shoppers for the month between Sunday 5 April and the charge's introduction on Monday 5 May.

"We want to make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment and our trials have shown us that they want to take action," said M&S chief executive Sir Stuart Rose. "Just imagine if M&S customers right across the UK cut the number of food bags they use by 70% – that's over 280 million bags they'd be saving every year."

According to the Daily Mail, which launched a 'Banish the Bags' campaign yesterday, a typical UK family receives more than 800 carriers each year. It is thought that in the US some 60,000 plastic bags are used each second.

In November 2007, London Councils began moves to ban free single-use carrier bags in the capital.

Shane Brennan, communications manager for the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), told More Than Business News: "We are opposed to a ban on bags because we are concerned it will harm local shops, as people choose to buy more in bulk and... travel by car, rather than walking to the shops or on the high street."

"We are willing to look at charging options but we would be concerned to ensure that they have the desired effect and do not penalise local stores through excessive red tape and drive customers out of local shops into supermarkets," he added.