Single use of plastic bags in England fell by 85% after the introduction of the tax

The flying bag of the British supermarket Tesco (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

In October last year, England introduced a tax on plastic bags to improve the environmental situation. the statistics lived up to expectations: one-time consumption of bags in the country decreased by more than 85 percent.

The introduction of the tax in England was an expected development - other members of the United Kingdom, such as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have already adopted similar measures, thereby significantly reducing the distribution of plastic bags in a short time. The tax in England was 5p for each plastic bag provided for the sale and delivery of goods in stores with a total number of full-time employees (or equivalent) of at least 250 people. In addition, there are special exceptions for goods: raw meat and fish, prescribed medicines, etc.

The current results, recorded six months after the introduction of the 5p tax, showed an 85 percent reduction in single-use plastic bags. Before the introduction of the tax in England, each resident of the country, on average, threw away 12 thin packages per month. In Wales, where the ban has been in effect since 2011, this figure was 6 times lower: 2 packets per month. The same statistics came to the inhabitants of England: according to existing trends, in a year after the introduction of the tax, the number of single-use plastic bags in England will decrease from almost 7.5 billion to 1 billion.

Therese Coffey of the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) commented: “Removing 6 billion plastic bags from circulation is fantastic news for all of us. Marine life will be safer, neighborhoods will be cleaned up, and future generations will not be burdened with mountains of plastic that takes hundreds of years to decompose in landfills. We see how small actions can lead to big results, but we should not be too complacent about this: there are always many additional opportunities to reduce waste and recycle what we use.”

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