Brown gets tough with UK retail over plastic bags
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday warned retailers they had to start charging shoppers for the 13 billion plastic bags they currently get for free each year or the government would step in to force them.
Most bags end as landfill waste or being blown across the countryside, littering the landscape and harming wildlife. They can persist in the environment for centuries. Producing them involves petrochemicals and climate-damaging fossil fuels.