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Carrier bag charge becomes law in England

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Carrier bag charge becomes law in England

Large retailers in England must start charging customers at least 5p for each single use carrier bag when selling or delivering goods from October 5.

Retailers with fewer than 250 full-time employees are not required to charge, but can voluntarily charge if they wish to, according to information provided by the NPA's Information Department. Pharmacies that belong to a franchise, or group sharing a brand or products, only need to count the employees in their own business, not those in the whole franchise or group.

A minimum charge of 5p will apply to plastic carrier bags which are unused, have handles and are 70 microns thick or less; paper bags are exempt from charges. For home deliveries where the exact number of bags to be used is not known at the point of purchase, the customer can be charged for an average number of bags used for multi bag deliveries – each bag is to be charged a minimum of 5p. Bags with multiple items including items not listed in the table will incur a charge.

This table lists exemptions from the charge:

Exempted bags Exempted items
Bags used for a service — no sale of goods Prescription medicines
Bags used for transporting goods Uncooked fish, fish products, meat, poultry products
Bags containing free promotional material Unwrapped blades, including razor blades and knives
Returnable multiuse bags (bags for life) Unwrapped food for animals or humans
Sealed packaging for mail order deliveries, with or without handles Unwrapped loose corns, bulbs, flowers, rhizomes, seeds or soil-contaminated goods
Woven plastic bags Live aquatic creatures in water

Defra has published a guidance document; Carrier bag charges: retailers’ responsibilities where further information can be found. Other resources and posters produced by Defra can be used to help prepare customers and staff of the charges.

For further information on this or any other query, please contact the NPA Pharmacy Services Team on 01727 891 800 or email pharmacyservices@npa.co.uk.

 

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