Case study of
#00090 Mandatory charges or levies on single-use carrier bags
United Kingdom
#00083
SuccessNational
Implementer
UK governments (Wales 2011, NI 2013, Scotland 2014, England 2015)
Timeline
Since Oct 1, 2011
Location
United Kingdom54.7024, -3.2766
Description
The UK introduced a mandatory single-use carrier-bag charge progressively — Wales (2011), Northern Ireland (2013), Scotland (2014) and England (2015). The MCS Beachwatch citizen-science beach survey recorded a steep, sustained fall in plastic bags found on beaches over the following decade, with bag requests at major retailers dropping by ~98%.
Metrics
3Plastic bags on beaches (per 100 m)~5 bags per 100 m in 2014~1 bag per 100 mbags per 100 m
Beach bag-litter reduction over a decade~80%%
Drop in checkout bag requests (major retailers)~98%%
Lessons learned
- A small mandatory charge collapsed bag use and bag litter quickly — the ~98% drop in checkout bag requests at major retailers shows the policy's speed and scale of effect.
- As bag litter fell, drinks-related litter rose proportionally — this motivated extension of single-item levies to other products and informed the design of deposit-return schemes.
- Long-running citizen-science monitoring (MCS Beachwatch) provided the credible, sustained time-series data needed to demonstrate impact and justify policy continuation.
Sources
2Documented Jun 26, 2026