Shopping bags still a problem

A GEJI survey:

A GEJI international survey of thousands of shoppers in March showed that supermarket chains in many countries have failed to stem plastic bag consumption.

Journalism students from universities in Europe, Asia and Australia collaborated in producing a major report about plastic bag use, observing more than 6500 supermarkets shoppers.

In London, where major supermarkets have said they will reduce new plastic bag consumption by 50% by June, customers still took an average of 1.7 plastic bags. In Hong Kong, where a compulsory plastic bag levy has been introduced after the survey, more customers used their own cotton bags.

Sydney, had the worst record with each customer using an average of 2.1 plastic bags. The situation across Melbourne was little better with each customer consuming an average of 1.95 plastic bags each.

Read everything here: The GEJI International Plastic Bags Full Report with stories on plastic bags across the world, interviews with customers, environmental stories and political analysis.