Plastic bag charge to be introduced in England

From 5 October 2015, England will follow the rest of the UK  in introducing charges for carrier bags. All businesses with more than 250 full time equivalent employees will have to charge at least 5p for carrier bags that:

• have not previously been used
• have handles
• are plastic
• are 70 microns thick or less

These charges have already been used elsewhere to great effect, with carrier bag usage plummeting by around 80% in Wales and Scotland. However, the English legislation exempts small and medium businesses, whereas the Welsh and Scottish charge applies across the board. Full info on the upcoming charge is available here.