30 Jul 2018 --- Plastic bag sales in England’s “big seven” supermarkets have dropped by 86 percent since the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge in 2015 according to the UK Government. New figures compiled by the UK Government reveal customers of the country’s biggest supermarkets bought nearly a quarter fewer plastic bags last year compared to 2016/17 – a decrease of nearly 300 million bags. The charge was introduced to help tackle the impacts of plastic waste pollution in the environment.