Tesco names two charities to benefit from plastic bag levy
Howard Lake | 3 September 2014 | News
Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy are the two charities that Tesco will partner with over the plastic bag levy. In Scotland and Wales Tesco’s charges for carrier bags are expected to raise around £1.8 million for the charities, £1 million in Scotland and £800,000 in Wales.
The two charities were chosen by Tesco customers, 27,000 of whom took part in a vote.
Greg Sage, Community Director for Tesco said:
“Our customers are the ones who will pay the charge, so we really wanted them to choose the charities that will benefit from it. The response was had was absolutely incredible – 27,000 people voted which is a fantastic turnout”.
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The charities were chosen from organisations which submitted proposals to Tesco in June about how they would use the funds to make a difference for the environment and local communities. 120 organisations applied for the Scottish and Welsh partnership, and this was then reduce to a shortlist of five.
RSPB has been benefiting from the carrier bag levy in Wales. Since 2011 it has raised over £2.3 million.
Lesley Jones, Chief Executive for Keep Wales Tidy said:
“We’re delighted to have received the vote of confidence from our supporters and Tesco customers. Keep Wales Tidy campaigned hard for the introduction of the bag levy and we’re extremely pleased that it has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the use of single use carrier bags and that proceeds from the levy are being used to support environmental action”.
Both partnerships will run for an initial period of 12 months from 20 October 2014.
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Legislation to introduce charging for plastic carrier bags came into force in Wales on 1 October 2011, and it is due to be introduced in Scotland from 20 October 2014. It will require that shops do not give away plastic carrier bags for free, but must charge for them.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.