A spokesperson from Sainsbury’s has clairfied how through the sale of the 5p carrier bags, national and local charities will benefit.

The spokesperson told the Ross Gazette:“We have taken an approach which we think best meets the aim of reducing carrier bag usage while also helping our customers.

“Instead of selling single-use bags for 5p, we have introduced a reusable bag for 5p which is made from 100 per cent recycled material, is recyclable, and which we will replace free of charge when it wears out. We are then voluntarily donating all profit from the sale of the bags to charity. These donations come on top of the considerable donations we already make to charity, with our customers and colleagues helping us to donate over £52 million to national and local charities last year.”

Local charities and community groups in the Ross-on-Wye area and the store’s Local Charity of the Year, Hope Support Services, will benefit from the profits.

The spokesperson contunued: “The only bags we have available that are subject to the levy are the single-use carrier bags used for our online deliveries where customers pay a flat fee of 40p per delivery.

“Last month we introduced a ‘bagless’ option for all online deliveries to help further encourage reductions in usage. This option does not come with a charge.

“In line with the spirit of the legislation we will be donating the proceeds (minus VAT) from those single-use bags used for online deliveries that are subject to the charge, to good causes in the local community.

“In addition, even though our new 5p reusable bags aren’t subject to the levy, we will voluntarily donate any profits we make from these bags to good causes. The money from both bags will be allocated to a local community fund for each of our stores, for colleagues in that store to allocate to small local good causes or their store’s Local Charity of the Year.”