It is estimated that Londoners alone throw away more than one billion shopping bags a year, often without reusing them.
Environmentalists say these bags, depending on their quality, can take up to 400 years to degrade naturally.
Last November, London Councils submitted to the London Local Authorities Bill to Parliament and held a six week public consultation, intending to introduce a London-wide levy on throwaway shopping bags.
The response from Londoners who took part in the discussion has been overwhelmingly in favour of taking action against the proliferation of plastic bags.
According to the London Council’s website, while some of us reuse or recycle the throwaway bags, the ultimate long-term challenge is reducing the level of consumption of these unfriendly bags altogether.
Londoners produce millions of tonnes of waste each year. Most of the plastic bags end up in landfills.
Many wild animals were found dead after ingesting plastic that they were unable to digest.
Mixed reaction
London councils have welcomed the decision. But the Telegraph newspaper reported mixed feelings from some customers who saw the move as unnecessary burden on shoppers.
Shoppers will only be charged a 5p fee for plastic bags in M&S food halls.
The proceedings will be donated to environmental projects.
The move by M&S is largely seen as an attempt at improving its corporate social responsibility record. Similar efforts have been made by other major retailers in the UK.
Worldwide action
Various forms of bans, levies and special taxes on plastic bag usage around the world have failed to produce coherent results. M&S’s move is likely to bring to fore the question of responsible consumerism.
