£1million has been raised from just three supermarkets for charities in the first six months of the 5p charge
Carrier bag charges at three of the country’s biggest retailers have led to a £1 million windfall for Scottish charities in the first six months since the policy came into place.
The Co-operative Food has used the 5p charge to raise £375,000, Asda has raised £350,000 and Marks & Spencer has raised £214,374.
Each of the supermarkets have signed up to Zero Waste Scotland’s carrier bag commitment – an agreement signed by retailers up and down the country to disclose information on the charge, and donations made, to a central publicly available portal.
The total raised by all signatories will be released later this year but the charity revealed businesses which have signed up, include Morrisons, McDonalds, Waitrose and Argos as well as organisations such as the Salvation Army and Scottish SPCA
Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Over the past six months, we’ve seen an incredible change to shopping habits in Scotland.
As well as removing thousands of bags from circulation, it’s also fantastic that nearly £1m has been raised for good causes across the country - Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland
“Shoppers have embraced the 5p charge and rapidly reduced their consumption of single-use carrier bags more readily than we ever hoped.
“I’d like to thank all the founding signatories published today, to our carrier bag commitment, and urge more retailers to join them.
“Initial feedback from signatories suggests that more than £1 million has been raised for good causes in Scotland and by embracing the 5p single-use bag charge, businesses and shoppers are helping reduce waste and repair the damage already done. We can all be proud of that.”
Charities around the country from nationwide projects to community regeneration groups have benefited from the cash.
Asda has given its cash to two social enterprise charities – Social Investment Scotland and Foundation Scotland. The Co-operative Food has focussed on community projects and Marks & Spencer has given grants to the likes of WWF and the Marine Conservation Society as well as £88,446 a range of local Scottish charities.
Retailers are also reporting the overall usage of carrier bags being drastically cut by 80% on average – news welcomed by green groups.
Asda indicated it has reduced usage by over 90%, the Co-operative Food by 80% and Marks & Spencer by 50%.
Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland said: “It’s great to hear carrier bag usage in Scotland has dropped so significantly since the 5p charge was introduced.
“As well as removing thousands of bags from circulation, it’s also fantastic that nearly one million pounds has been raised for good causes across the country.
"Before the charge Scotland consumed a staggering 800 million carrier bags every year, many of which ended up polluting our environment and threatening wildlife. So, it's really great to see just how successful this initiative has been.”
Scotland’s environment secretary Richard Lochhead, who announced the figures at Asda in Elgin added: “I’m delighted that in just six months the carrier bag charge is already making such a big impact in Scotland.
“I very much welcome the dramatic reductions in carrier bag use being reported by these major retailers. It suggests that many consumers are now in the habit of reusing bags, which should reduce the amount of litter that blights our communities and natural environment, and costs a fortune to clean up.
“This primary purpose of this legislation is to clean up our streets and beaches by cutting carrier bag use. But it’s also fantastic that the charge has already raised so much money for worthy causes from just these four retailers alone.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg and I am looking forward to seeing fuller figures later in the year – but in the meantime I encourage all retailers to sign up to the carrier bag commitment to ensure that shoppers can have full transparency over where the money being raised from the charge is going.”
