From 5 October 2015, large shops in England have been required to charge 5p for all single-use plastic carrier bags. DEFRA has now published data for the first reporting period, the half year from 5 October 2015 to 6 April 2016. It has also written up some of the key points and trends that it has noted from the data.

In England over this six month period:

• 1.1 billion single-use carrier bags were sold by large retailers who registered and reported data (this figure may also include some reusable carrier bags), 61 percent of the total of which were issued by 7 main retailers (Asda, M&S, Sainsbury, Tesco, The Co-operative group, Waitrose and WM Morrison)
• WRAP have previously reported data for these 7 main retailers which showed that, during the full 2014 calendar year, they issued 7.6 billion single-use carrier bags – over 12 times as many
• the gross proceeds from the levy were £52.8 million, while the net proceeds after taking into account VAT and any costs amounted to £41.3 million
• at least £29.2 million was donated to good causes – environment, education, health, arts, charity or voluntary organisations, heritage and sports as well as local causes chosen by customers or staff