English retailers to charge for single use plastic bags from October 2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations

English retailers to charge for single use plastic carrier bags from October.

Large retailers in England will be required to charge a minimum of 5p per single-use carrier bag issued from 5 October 2015 or face fines of up to £5,000.

The new regulations will apply to businesses with 250 or more full time equivalent employees, and will require them to charge for bags and submit annual compliance reports for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Smaller businesses will not have to charge, but will be encouraged to do so voluntarily. Once retailers have deducted reasonable costs, it is expected that they will donate the proceeds from the charge to good causes as is already the case with similar schemes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

We hope it rolls out to all retailers eventually once people get used to the idea and that the world is not falling apart when they have to pay for a disposable bag.