Supermarkets cut bag use by 50%

Discarded bags blight the landscape and pose a danger to animals

The number of plastic bags given to customers by Scottish supermarkets has almost halved in the last three years.

Seven supermarkets signed up to the voluntary Scottish Government scheme which aimed to reduce the number of bags given out by 50%.

This led to the equivalent of nearly 39 million fewer bags being used in May 2009 compared with May 2006 - a 49.4% reduction - new figures showed.

A similar scheme was later adopted across the whole of the UK.

The figures released by the Scottish Government and British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed the reduction in the number of bags handed out by Asda, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose in Scotland over the past three years.

The reduction was equivalent to about 460 million fewer bags over the course of a year.

It's a huge testament to customers, who've switched to bags for life and cut bag usage Stephen Robertson Scottish retail Consortium

The Scottish Government had set a target of a 50% cut during that time period.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "This is fantastic news and another major step towards a zero waste Scotland. I'd like to thank every member of the public and all the retailers and their staff who helped us achieve this remarkable cut in carrier bag use.

"Scotland led the way by working with retailers to reduce the number of bags and was the first country in the UK to introduce the 50% target."

British Retail Consortium director general, Stephen Robertson, said the figures were a "spectacular achievement".

He added: "Changing customer habits on this scale, this quickly, isn't easy. But it's a huge testament to customers, who've switched to bags for life and cut bag usage.

"Hard working retail staff also deserve credit, as do our supermarket members - who've spent the money during these tough times to help this happen."

Animals killed

The reduction of 49.4% in Scotland is the highest in the UK, ahead of Wales (48.9%), England (48.1%) and Northern Ireland (38.4%). Across the UK, the figure is 48%.

The number of single use bags issued in Scotland dropped from 78.4 million in May 2006 to 39.6 million in May this year.

Across the UK, the figure fell from 870 million to 418 million.

Environmentalists say plastic bags take hundreds of years to decompose despite typically being used only once.

Discarded bags blight the landscape and kill small animals and birds that become snared up in them.

Plastic bags also make it into the sea, where they are eaten by turtles and marine mammals, who mistake them for jellyfish.