Nearly a billion plastic bags still used in UK annually because of loophole
Nearly a billion plastic bags are still being used in the UK each year because of an online delivery loophole, according to a new analysis.
Although the plastic bag charge has been hugely successful since its introduction in 2015, the levy has not been applied to the booming industry of online purchases.
When the charge first came into effect in England a decade ago, it was set at 5p, before being increased to 10p in 2021.
But while it led to high-street plastic bag use falling by 98 per cent over the last ten years, the number being delivered to people's doorsteps remains on the rise.
Analysis by Development Economics, commissioned by sustainable packaging business DS Smith, found that online fashion retailers delivered 941 million plastic bags to UK shoppers in 2024.
As consumers continue to migrate online, this figure is expected to increase, hitting 1.3 billion a year by 2030.
The UK is now the largest individual market for e-commerce plastic delivery bags in Europe and is estimated to have used 150 million more than second-placed Germany last year.
The new analysis comes despite the research finding half of British shoppers feel guilty about the amount of plastic their orders arrive in.
Two-thirds of Brits want plastic bags to be phased out where replacements are available, and three in five say they prefer to receive their shopping wrapped in cardboard or paper.
'Change is possible'
But some online fashion brands have already made the switch.
Zalando, a major European online retailer for fashion and lifestyle, has been using paper shipping bags made from recycled content and FSC-certified virgin fibres instead of plastic bags since 2020.
Stefano Rossi, of DS Smith, said other online fashion retailers should follow suit.
She said: 'While online shopping has grown, e-commerce retailers lag high-street stores when it comes to replacing plastic bags.
'Brands like Zalando have proved change is possible, but there is a blocker; there simply aren't enough paper alternatives available and our industry needs to step up to provide them.
'It will be tempting for businesses to fixate on price, but sticking with plastic comes at a cost – consumers don't want it, and brands risk their reputation by ignoring that.
'We think legislation can and should be more demanding of us all – phasing out certain plastics to help create a level playing field that encourages innovation, investment, and generates healthy competition to replace plastic.'
Only 9 per cent of the fashion e-commerce bags delivered across the UK are currently being reused or recycled, with 857 million bags ending up in landfill or incineration last year, according to the research.
The analysis found that growth in e-commerce and slow progress on increasing recycling rates will mean that by 2030, more than 1 billion plastic bags will end up in landfill or being burned annually.
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