British supermarkets pledged in 2006 that they would try and cut the number of plastic bags being given out by 25 percent by spring 2009. Incredibly, the campaign to reduce the reliance on plastic bags has seen the target smashed by nearly halving the amount of plastic bags being given out.

In May 2009, the big six supermarkets gave out 452 million plastic bags. This figure compares to May 2006 where 870 million plastic bags were used. This means that the number of plastic bags given out has been reduced by 48 percent.

The major change has been the switch to long-life plastic bags. Consumers have been encouraged to buy long-life reusable plastic bags for a couple of pence each and to bring these on their grocery shopping trips to use instead of the throwaway plastic bags.

Although the changes are good, some people are calling for charges on plastic carrier bags – a scheme which several other European countries already employ. Welsh Assembly environment minister Jane Davidson has pointed out that Wales uses 2 million plastic bags a month, equating to 24 million plastic bags a year. With plastic bags taking between 500 and 1,000 years to degrade in landfill, it means there is still plenty of room for improvement and she believes that the current voluntary approach needs a further push.

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