Poll: Are you in favour of the 5p charge for carrier bags in English shops?

The firm's food stores in Wales will stock a new range of longer-life reusable bags, costing £1 each, with profits being reinvested in local communities.

This will be in addition to to the existing charge of 5p for bags in shops in Wales, which supports conservation programmes.

The scheme may be extended to English stores when a charge for bags comes into force in October.

The Co-op says it wants to persuade people to ditch the 5p bags and instead invest in the bag for life, which can be reused.

It says it is a habit that people in Wales are now used to and that shoppers in England will also become accustomed after the autumn introduction.

Matthew Speight, The Co-operative Food's Divisional Managing Director for Wales, said: "We share the aspiration of continuing to reduce the numbers of single-use plastic carrier bags that are in circulation.

"But by buying any of our new range of carriers, customers will not only be contributing to the environment but they'll be helping good causes in Wales as well."

The Co-operative Food, which has more than 150 food stores in Wales, expects to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds from bag sales in the next 12 months.

Generally, lots of shoppers do, and they load their goods into one of those readily available plastic carrier bags without a thought.

For Salopians shopping on holiday in Wales, there is a surprise in store. Because in Wales there is a charge for the bags, which has resulted in far fewer of them being used. The charge is to be introduced into England later this year. Expect the same to happen.

So, if not that thin plastic carrier bag, what?

There is an alternative in Wales to forking out 5p a time. The Co-op there is stocking a range of reusable bags, costing £1 each, with the money raised being reinvested in local communities. So, in effect, shoppers will make a modest local donation and in return get a bag which they can use again and again.

It is what you can call a win-win scheme, doing something good for the environment by cutting down on those plastic bags, and supporting local causes.

The scheme is likely to be extended across the border when the English charges start.

Organisations that have benefited from money raised by The Co-operative Food under the Welsh Government's single-use carrier bag charge include Welsh Wildlife Heroes, a campaign by Wildlife Trusts Wales to encourage people to do their bit to help wildlife in Wales.

The 5p charge on single-use carrier bags was introduced in October 2011. Figures collected by the Waste and Resources Action Programme,show that the number of thin gauge carrier bags issued by the seven major supermarket chains fell by 79 per cent between 2010 and 2013.

It emerged this week that Defra is to provide training to local authorities in England to make sure they enforce the carrier bag charging regulations, which are expected to come into force in October.

The training programme comes as Defra maintains its work on preparations for the charging regime.

Only retailers employing more than 250 will have to charge for single use plastic carrier bags under the draft legislation in England.

Defra's guidance on the single use carrier bag charge says: "We will introduce a 5p charge on single-use plastic carrier bags in England in October 2015. There is already a similar 5p charge on single-use bags in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"We laid the Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) Order 2015 in Parliament on 17 December 2014. The Order will be debated in both Houses of Parliament and is subject to Parliamentary approval before the 5p charge comes in on October 5 2015."

Crucially, the Department is still pressing ahead with its plan to make only larger retailers, who employ more than 250 people, subject to the rules, even though it admits that the option to cover all retailers would have higher net benefits. However, it reasons that "an overriding government priority is avoiding the imposition of regulatory requirements on small businesses".