FDBusiness.com

From October 5th, customers at all large UK shops will be charged 5p for each single-use carrier bag they use during their shopping trip as part of a new Government scheme. Based on statistics from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – where a bag charge already exists – Tesco anticipates plastic carrier bag use in England to drop by nearly 70% as a result.

To help customers reduce their bag use and become accustomed to using Bags for Life, in England Tesco will offer a limited number of free Bags for Life at the till during the week before the charge comes into force.

The money raised from the 5p bag charge in England will be used to pay for a large number of local environmental improvement projects in communities right across the UK. The kinds of projects that will get the green light as a result of the funding will include building new pocket parks, sports facilities, woodland walks and community gardens.

Tesco customers will get the chance to vote in store and online for the projects they most want to go ahead in their own local areas. Six projects will receive funding in each of 432 regions annually, which means that around 2,500 different projects are expected to receive funding from the bag charge after just one year. The amount of funding available for individual local projects will range from £8,000 to £12,000 and administration of the local funding will be handled by environmental improvement charity Groundwork.