The Independent: "Four hundred million more plastic bags handed out in supermarkets last year"

"Four hundred million more plastic bags were handed out by supermarkets last year, as the campaign to reduce their use went backwards, official figures from the waste reduction body Wrap showed today.

"Shoppers in the UK used 7.96 billion single-use bags in 2011, a rise of 5.4 per cent on the previous year - with each person taking 10 throwaway carriers a month.

"Plastic bag use rose steeply across most of the UK but in Wales, which introduced a 5p charge per bag last October, it fell by 22 per cent."