Single use carrier bag sales down 90% at major retailers – but 399 million bags still sold

The latest figures from defra show sales of single use carrier bags by England's seven largest retailers have fallen by 90% since 2016/2017, with more than 7.5 billion fewer bags sold annually than before the carrier bag charge was introduced. However, 399 million single use carrier bags were still sold by the 94 retailers reporting data in England during 2025/26, while the data does not include bags for life or other reusable bags, meaning it does not capture the full picture of consumer bag use.

The figures come after the UK government confirmed it would delay the rollout of household collections for flexible plastics in England under its Simpler Recycling reforms from 2027 to 2030, postponing the point at which millions of these harder to recycle plastics can be collected from homes.

David Gudgeon, head of external affairs at Eurokey, commented: ‘The carrier bag charge has been one of the UK's biggest environmental stories in a bid to address single use plastics. It shows that clear policy can change behaviour, with sales at the UK's largest retailers falling by 90% since the charge was introduced.

‘But with 399 million single use bags being sold every year, and published data not including the number of bags for life being sold, the full picture still isn't clear. The reality is that the recent announcement to delay policy implementation for household collections for flexible plastics by three years means that just over one billion additional bags are likely to end up being landfilled or incinerated before households are able to recycle them more widely, wasting valuable, finite resources.

‘The recycling sector is ready to play its part, but it needs consistent and timely policy to give businesses the confidence to keep investing in the domestic infrastructure, and consumers the confidence that their plastic can and will be recycled. Only when everybody works together will we be able to build a truly circular economy.’