Cornershops will be forced to charge customers 5p for plastic bags in new government plans
Since the 5p plastic bag tax was introduced in England in October 2015, nine billion fewer bags have been used
CORNERSHOPS will be forced to charge customers 5p for plastic bags in the latest government bid to be green.
As it stands, employees with fewer than 250 employees are exempt from the rule - but Prime Minister Theresa May wants this to change.
She will announce plans to deal with the UK's "throwaway culture" in a 25-year plan.
Since the 5p plastic bag tax was introduced in England in October 2015, nine billion fewer bags have been used.
It also helped supermarkets donate more than £66million to good causes.
Government sources said that the levy extension is a "matter for a consultation" later this year.
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May hopes that all shops will be covered by the new rules.
The Times reports that the PM's spokesman said May told the cabinet that the government had “a clear belief in conserving what is good and standing, up against the profligate use of resources,
whether that is public money or natural resources."
The Association of Convenience Stores has previously said that many of its 33,500 members wanted to be part of the scheme.
In 2014, England's seven biggest supermarkets gave out more than 7.6 billion plastic bags.
They sold only 1.3 billion in the year to last April.
The UK's biggest supermarket, Tesco, scrapped 5p bags at the end of August last year.
It means that shoppers now have to buy a Bag for Life costing 10p if they forget to bring a bag with them.
In November, the Chancellor Philip Hammond used the autumn Budget to announce a new tax on takeaway boxes and bubble wrap in a bid to tackle the problem with single-use plastic.
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