Plastic bag use down by 39m

Jul 17 2009

Leading supermarkets have come within a whisker of reaching a target of halving the number of single-use carrier bags handed out to customers, it has been announced.

The 49% reduction achieved by Asda, the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose has been hailed as "fantastic news" by the Scottish Government.

The number of bags issued was down by almost 39 million in May this year, compared with May 2006.