Back in 2022, it was reported that single-use plastic bag use in England had fallen by 20% after a 10p charge was brought in the year before.
It was an increase on the initial 5p charge introduced in 2015, to much uproar at the time, I seem to remember. How would we cope at the tills? In the time since the levy was first brought in, I have amassed an alarming amount of ‘bags for life’ in my car boot and cupboard under the stairs.
Fast forward to this summer, and The Guardian reported this week that plastic bag sales have risen for the first time in a decade. BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme ran a feature on this story, and landed a fair chunk of the blame at the door of online retailer Ocado. The so-called “Ocado effect” means that online food shops and apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat replace trips to the supermarket, and many of us are sacrificing our environmental concerns in favour of convenience.
The figures are pretty gobsmacking, to be honest. Shoppers in England alone bought 437 million single-use plastic carrier bags last year, a rise of 7% on the year before, when the figure stood at 407 million. The stats come from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA, and it’s the first increase in ten years. I have no memory of this, due to the haziness of time during the pandemic, but apparently the 5p charge was temporarily ‘paused’ during lockdown, before being doubled.
It appears Ocado sold more plastic bags than any other retailer, with their figure on the Greta wall of shame standing at 221 million, a rise of 30 million on 2023. They put it down to having more customers, but the automated process they use to pack orders tends to mean more bags. In fairness, Ocado offer customers the chance to recycle their bags by giving them back to the delivery driver to get a refund on the bag charge, and their figures show 89% of customers took them up on this.
The Co-op is next in the unenviable carrier bag hit parade, with 94 million plastic bags being doled out in a year, although they have pointed out their bags are 100% compostable. Which is another way of saying they split and break really easily when you put anything remotely heavy into them, in my experience. They are ideal for light items like Flumps and basil.
Morrisons sold 58 million, whilst Sainsbury’s shifted a relatively modest 11 million at 30p a pop. The Morrisons paper bag doubles up as a chocolate fireguard, FYI.
Although the bag levy has led to a big drop in plastic bag sales, analysts are worried about the recent rise. Plastic on beaches is a real issue on UK coastlines, and household litter is a major contributing factor to this. A Morrisons spokesperson told The Guardian that they are moving to a system where groceries are delivered in a small crate, which the customer unpacks on the doorstep and hands back. I’d feel the pressure to do this quickly, like it was a Krypton Factor challenge, and probably end up dropping the eggs on the kitchen floor or something. Sainsbury’s also say they are switching to paper bags, which are fine until it rains. Ocado said their bag recycling and refund scheme was a UK first, and they are working to increase the 89% hand-back rate.
We all have to do our bit. Whether it’s going to do our own shopping, or simply ordering a bit less frequently, it’s surely not right that plastic bag use is soaring in 2025. Are we all so hooked on clicking a few buttons on an app and stuff appearing like a Dynamo magic trick that we forget the damage plastic waste is doing to our lovely planet? School report - must try harder to see the bigger picture.
They are only part of the problem. Discarded cigarette butts from cars, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps, and plastic drinks bottles are all major litter bugbears blighting our countryside. Why? Have a bit of consideration and take it away with you. Maybe we need to make ‘plogging’ a thing in the UK, which is a combination of litter picking and jogging. I do occasionally pick up random items of litter and bin them, but I’ll have to work on the jogging bit, as my last run was in 1993, when I was in Year 11.
Alex Cann's weekly blog - 9th January
