SHOPPERS face a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags from today as part of a Government scheme to reduce litter and protect wildlife.

The scheme in England, the last part of the UK to bring in bag charging, will require shoppers at all supermarkets and large shops to use their own bags or pay the charge.

Environmentalists have welcomed the move, which aims to prevent plastic bags ending up as litter or marine pollution where they can be harmful to wildlife, but have called for a more comprehensive scheme which includes all retailers and all types of bags.

So what do you need to know about the scheme?

  • Retailers with 250 or more full-time equivalent employees will have to charge a minimum of 5p for the bags they provide for shopping in stores and for deliveries, but smaller shops and paper bags are not included.
  • Campaigners warn that it may not be as successful as more comprehensive bag charging schemes brought in elsewhere in the UK, such as Wales where the number of bags handed out by retailers fell by 79% in the first three years.
  • Even with the exclusions, the Government expects the scheme to reduce use of single-use carrier bags by up to 80% in supermarkets, and 50% on the high street.
  • Plastic bags used for fruit and veg are excluded from the scheme, as are paper bags. Other items excempt include uncooked meat and fish, prescription medication, takeaway food and fish bought in a bag full of water from a petshop.
  • The 5p charge isn't a tax and the money will not be passed to the Government although it is expected to save £60 million in litter clean-up costs and generate £730 million for good causes.
  • The initiative appears to have the support of the majority of shoppers in England, with 62% thinking it is reasonable to charge 5p for all carrier bags - a 6% increase on 2012, a poll for the Break the Bag Habit coalition of litter charities found.
  • But the survey found 51% were in support of an even more comprehensive scheme that extended the charge to all retailers.
  • In England, the number of single-use bags given out by major supermarkets reached more than 7.6 billion last year - the equivalent of 140 per person and 61,000 tonnes in total.