Almost 500 independent retailers in Scotland are supporting the government’s campaign to cut plastic bag use. With a £466,000 advertising campaign urging the public to re-use bags, the Scottish government hopes to halve the amount handed out by June of this year.

The government’s decision to launch this campaign came after research discovered that 92% of the public would be happy to reuse their plastic bags but that 59% of them forget them and take new ones at the checkout.

The campaign will be running on TV, radio and will be present in supermarkets and shops around the country. 

“We are very pleased to be working with the Scottish government on this initiative to reduce the number of carrier bags handed out to customers,” said John Drummond, chief executive of the Scottish Grocer’s Federation. “It’s often very difficult for convenience stores because consumers regularly make unplanned visits and therefore don’t always have their re-usable bags with them. 

However, retailers are making determined efforts to encourage customers to change their habits, to use durable bags for a sustained use on an on-going basis.”