Wales consults on charging for plastic bags

Minister for the environment, sustainability and housing Jane Davidson revealed her plans at the annual Welsh Litter summit held at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff today.

Davidson’s campaign has been given the support of the British Retail Consortium’s supermarket members, which includes Tesco, have agreed to reduce the amount of bags they give out by 50% by spring 2009.

“I support the voluntary agreement, but I want to make more of a difference in Wales,” said Davidson.

“This agreement does not cover all retailers and means that half of all plastic bags are still being used for one shopping trip.”

Last month Davidson spearheaded the Get Carried Away campaign, a radio and online campaign to encourage people to reuse their plastic bags.

A total of 480 million plastic bags were used in Wales last year. The estimated cost of removing this form of litter is £1m.

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