Budget: Plastic bag charges for 'no-action' shops

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Alistair Darling has made public his widely expected plan to introduce charges on plastic bags if retailers do not take steps to reduce their use.

The Chancellor said legislation would allow the Government to impose a charge on single-use bags early next year "if we have not seen sufficient progress on a voluntary basis".

In the Budget, he said: "Given the damage that single-use carrier bags inflict on the environment, we want to be able to take action."

The money raised by a plastic bag levy under powers provided by Climate Change Bill legislation would go to environmental charities. It could reduce plastic bag use by 90%, with around 12 billion fewer bags in circulation, Mr Darling said.

Around 13 billion plastic bags are given out free to UK shoppers every year and take 1,000 years to decay.

The announcement comes after a newspaper campaign to ban plastic bags which has been endorsed by the Prime Minister. Last month Gordon Brown said the Government was ready to force supermarkets to reduce their use of plastic bags, and hailed retailers such as Ikea for phasing them out last year.

As early as last November, in his first major speech on the environment since becoming PM, Mr Brown signalled the throw-away plastic bags days were numbered.

"I am convinced that we can eliminate single-use disposable bags altogether in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives," he told listeners at a WWF event.

As the Chancellor made his announcement, the Body Shop became the latest high-profile retailer to take steps to reduce plastic bag use.

The cosmetics chain said it was ending the use of degradable plastic bags in-store from August 2008, switching to 100% recycled paper bags.