The latest figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has shown that sales of single-use carrier bags by England’s seven largest retailers have fallen by 90% since 2016/17, with more than 7.5bn fewer bags now sold annually than before the carrier bag charge was introduced.
However, 399m single-use carrier bags were still sold by the 94 retailers reporting data in England during 2025/26 - and the data doesn’t cover bags for life or other reusable bags, meaning it doesn’t 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.
In response, David Gudgeon, head of external affairs at supermarket recycling company Eurokey, said: “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 399m single-use bags being sold every year 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 a 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 their plastic can - and will - be recycled. Only when everybody works together will we be able to build a truly circular economy.”
You can read the latest proposals for carrier bags here.
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