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The supermarkets of Britain are cutting out the use of plastic shopping bags. This is in view of the campaign that had prevailed before 3 years to reduce the use of such bags to avoid the environmental hazards.
About 372 million plastic bags were handed over to the shoppers at seven major supermarkets during May 2009. The figures suggest supermarkets are now using 346 million fewer carrier bags every month than they were in 2006, a drop of 48%.
"This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said.
The reduction misses the voluntary target set by the supermarkets by a very small amount. "The target of a 50 percent reduction was only narrowly missed and retailers have really put a lot into this in the last six months," Benn said.
Governments, retailers and consumers around the world are under pressure to reduce the number of plastic bags, which are also piling up landfills.
