It has been 12 months since the 5p bag charge was introduced into England. Similar schemes have been operating in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for several years now, but has this charge made any difference to the wholesale supply of ‘Bags for Life’?

Cornish jute bag supplier GoJute Marketing Manager, finds out.

The aim of the 5p bag charge is to reduce the use of single-use plastic carrier bags by encouraging customers to re-use plastic carrier bags or to use an alternative, sustainable option.

According to www.gov.uk, in 2014 over 7.6bn single-use plastic bags were handed out to customers by major supermarkets in England, which equates to 140 bags per person or 61,000 tonnes in total. This figure dropped to 1.1bn bags in the first six months after the introduction of the scheme last October. It is estimated during the same six-month period that £29.2m was donated to good causes, such as the environment, education, health, arts or charitable organisations directly as a result of the 5p charge.

It is expected that over the next 10 years the benefits of the scheme will include:

• An expected overall benefit of over £780m to the UK economy
• Up to £730m raised for good causes
• £60m savings in litter clean-up costs
• Carbon savings of £13m

A win-win situation

But as result of the 5p charge are Cornish wholesale suppliers of ‘Bags For Life’ seeing a boost to their business? Gary warren, Owner of GoJute, which incorporates bag branding and print design onto jute, juco and cotton tote bags, says yes.

He explains: “Sales of GoJute bags have rapidly grown in the past few years due to consumers’ own environmental awareness as well as charging for plastic bags already being introduced in some of the other countries where we have a presence, for example most states of America and Ireland. This rate of growth increased further once the UK government introduced the charge.”

GoJute is perhaps the UK’s market leader when it comes to supplying bags for life; something which Gary says is down to availability, depth of range and vast colour options.

Gary adds: “Our range of bags and colour options is now bigger than ever. We also have a multitude of designer wholesale bags to sell on to retailers. From classic inexpensive promo items through to heavy canvas bags in organic cotton and Fairtrade options; GoJute has all bases covered.”

“Many of our bags are sold blank for consumers to use as they are, but also many are printed to advertise the business, charity or campaigns name and message. Whereas plastic bag production is subject to relatively high minimums, cotton bags can be cost-effectively printed from a single piece upwards. Equally, the range of base colours that we have at GoJute now extends to over 40. This means that we have the right colour, or group of colours for every situation. This kind of flexibility is simply not available without prohibitive minimums in plastic bag production”.

So it is little wonder that customers are turning their backs on single-use carrier bags when there are so many alternative options available to them. This is also a great market for retailers and charities to tap into.

The introduction of the charge has done wonders for the United Kingdom. And as Gary, concludes: “So yes, the planet is a hands down winner in this, but so are printers, retailers and consumers alike. It’s a true win-win situation for everyone involved”.