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British supermarkets to charge consumers for plastic bags!

use of plastic bags in supermarkets 9

Need no mentioning that plastic bags have always been a major environmental nuisance. As an initiative towards the concern, the British government has urged the consumers that they would be charged for plastic bags at supermarket and shop checkouts in a crackdown.

The government has levied a 10p on plastic bags, amazingly leading to a 90 per cent drop in their use. Encouraged by the Swedish furniture company Ikea – which introduced charges earlier this year — Government sources urged the supermarkets and other big stores to follow the warning.

Looking up to an ambitious agreement, but making it realistic, other expected moves will be that the prices for reusable carriers available at the checkout and targets will be reduced along with the reductions in the numbers of bags to be handed out.

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Environment minister Ben Bradshaw said,

We use between eight billion and ten billion shopping bags a year… They are a major waste problem. They are very difficult to deal with and are a major visual problem in the environment – in rivers, trees and on verges.

They have also become a serious threat to marine wildlife, which tends to die if it ingests these bags… We have got to do much more to reduce the number in circulation. Some retailers are already showing a courageous lead on this front and others must do the same.

Picture credit: BBC News

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