Supermarket plastic bag use drops 80%, saving over 7,000 tons of plastic yearly

The Environmental Protection Ministry’s report for 2017, submitted to the Knesset today, says the 10 agorot (2.8 cents) per bag charge on supermarket plastic bags imposed by a 2016 law has reduced the use of plastic bags by shoppers by some 80 percent.

According to the report, last year saw some 378 million single-use plastic bags used in the major supermarket chains, compared to 1.753 billion in 2016.

The drop amounts to over 7,091 tons of non-recyclable plastic each year, the ministry says.

Other single-use plastic bags, such as garbage bags, have not seen reduced consumption, but the supermarket bag decline means the total overall reduction in use of plastic bags nationwide dropped by 53% in 2017.

The plastic bag law, which went into effect on January 1, 2017, forced the country’s largest supermarket chains to charge 10 agorot for each bag handed to consumers at its checkout aisles. It does not apply to small neighborhood grocery stores or other retail businesses.