Plastic bag legislation hailed as success

The legislation introduced one year ago requiring retailers to charge for the use of plastic bags has seen usage fall by 80%.

The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 was introduced on 20 October 2014, with retailers bound by law to charge 5p for a plastic bag.

Figures released on the anniversary show that the number of plastic bags handed out in stores fell by 80% - the equivalent of 650 million carriers.

The 5p charge has also raised about £6.7m for good causes in the past 12 months.

Scotland's Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead hailed the 5p charge a "major success", and thanked Scotland for "embracing the policy".

He added: "Previously, statistics showed that people in Scotland used more than 800 million new single-use carrier bags every single year - more per head than anywhere else in the UK.

"It's now becoming second nature to shoppers to reuse their carrier bags and hopefully to think more about our impact on the environment."

In 2011, Wales was the first nation in the UK to introduce a bag charge. Northern Ireland followed in April 2013.

The policy came into being in Scotland on 20 October last year and England introduced a charging policy at the beginning of this month.