£28 million worth of carrier bags stolen since 5p charge introduced

Light-fingered British shoppers have stolen a whopping 520 million plastic bags from supermarkets since the 5p carrier bag charge was introduced.

According to research from VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, more than half of supermarket shoppers admit to having swiped a bag without paying, after forgetting to bring their own.

Asked why, a third said they believed the charge was simply a money-making exercise, with a quarter saying it was a waste of money. A similar number said they stole bags simply because they thought they could get away with it; and one in six claimed they didn't have the right money to pay for one.

All in all, it adds up to £26.7 million worth of bags stolen since the charge was introduced in October, mostly from self-service checkouts which rely on a customer's honesty.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-supermarkets%
"The fact that over half of people in England aren't paying for their career bags is quite scary. This means that the effect isn't as desired and carrier bags will still be prominent in the English shop," George Charles of www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk tells the Daily Telegraph.

"Action needed to be taken and I hope people in England start to take responsibility over their carrier bags."

Before the charge was introduced, British shoppers were getting through an average of 11 carrier bags a month each. In the five years after a 5p charge was introduced in Wales, though, the use of plastic bags fell by 71%, and in Scotland it fell by 80% during the first year of a charge. The government's hoping for a similar fall in England too.

The money raised by the levy goes to good causes, chosen by the supermarkets themselves, and the government hopes to raise £730 million over the next ten years.

When the charge was first introduced, some shoppers resorted to extreme measures to avoid paying. Some simply walked off with the supermarket's wire baskets or trolleys, and one Tesco store was reduced to putting security tags on its baskets after losing a third to theft in the first week of the charge. Another even tagged its 10p Bags for Life for the same reason.

"5p for a bag, quid for a trolley #NoBrainer #Needed6Bags," one shameless thief boasted on Twitter.