Jack Loughran Mon 29 Jul 2024
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2024/07/29/number-plastic-bags-uk-beaches-falls-80-due-charge-introduction
Charging for plastic bags has led to an 80% fall in the number found on the UK’s beaches over the last decade, a Marine Conservation Society (MCS) study says.
The ocean charity carries out annual litter surveys in which volunteers record all litter that they find within a 100-metre stretch of beach.
An estimated 7.6 billion bags a year were handed out by the leading supermarkets before the 5p charge was introduced in 2015. All retailers with more than 250 employees were obliged to apply the charge to their plastic bags, with many small businesses also reporting voluntarily.
In 2020, figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed that bag sales fell by 95% since the introduction of the charge. In 2021, the charge was increased to 10p and extended to all businesses. Since then, the number of plastic bags used across all retailers fell a further 35%.
Although the charity’s beach cleaning initiative takes place year-round, the MCS collects a third of its data from volunteer surveys during its annual Great British Beach Clean, which this year runs from 20 to 29 September.
The programme is one of the largest marine citizen science activities of its kind in the UK, and the charity hopes that by gathering more data through its beach cleans, it can make a case to push for greater action to protect the UK’s marine habitats. Last year, a total of 4,684 plastic carrier bags were recorded across the UK and Channel Islands by volunteers.
Lizzie Price, MCS Beachwatch manager, said: “It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bag charges working. There is no doubt that these policies have been extremely successful in reducing this frequently littered item. But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.
“Our volunteer surveys show nine out of 10 beach litter items are made from plastic, and drinks-related litter, like bottles and cans, were found on 97% of UK beaches surveyed last year. We need broader policies that charge or ban more single-use items where possible, such as the proposed deposit return schemes for plastic bottles, cans and glass. We must move quicker towards a society that repairs reuses and recycles.”
The charity now hopes to see a reduction on beaches of items such as single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks, polystyrene cups and food containers following a ban in England last year, after similar bans in Scotland in 2022 and Wales in 2023.
In October, the government confirmed plans to simplify the UK’s household recycling system and boost the number of food waste collections.
Leave a Reply