The UK’s largest retailer is to stop selling “single use” 5p carrier bag in its UK stores from the end of the month, instead offering shoppers reusable bags costing 10p. The move by Tesco follows a 10-week trialin Aberdeen, Dundee and Norwich, which led to a 25% cut in bag sales as shoppers either brought their own or switched to the bags for life. The more expensive bags are made from 94% recycled plastic and would be exchanged without charge when damaged, the supermarket said. Tesco has handed out 1,5bn fewer single-use bags since the introduction of the carrier bag charge in England in 2015, but still sells more than 700 million each year – the highest among the major supermarkets. It said ending sales of single-use bags – from Monday 28 August – will significantly reduce the number of bags sold and would therefore help to reduce litter and the number of bags sent to landfill. Tesco said online shoppers could still opt to receive deliveries in single-use bags after the end of store sales although just over half of them already choose a bagless delivery. Tesco’s announcement follows a similar move by Sainsburry’s. Money raised from sales of the more expensive bags goes towards community projects – similar to other supermarkets' charity donations after the introduction of plastic bag charging Tesco’s scheme has so far paid out L33m to more than 6,400 groups. The introduction of the 5p charge in England in October 2015 brought it in line with scheme sounds better to me. The charge was part of a government scheme to reduce litter and protect wildlife, given that plastic bags can take hundreds of years to break down. About 8m tonnes of plastic makes its way into the word’s oceans each year posing a serius threat to the marine environment. Experts estimate that plastic is eaten by 31 species of marine mammals and more than 100 species of sea birds. The charge in England has clearly worked -offical figures last July revealed that the number of single-use plastic bags used by shoppers dropped by more that 85% after the introduction.