Carrier Bag Policy

It is a legal requirement for retailers to charge a minimum of 5p for all single-use plastic carrier bags provided in England and for single-use paper and plastic carrier bags provided in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This is to help reduce the environmental impact of single-use bags and encourage consumers to opt for reusable bags.

In England, Wales and Scotland, retailers are encouraged to donate all or part of the charges to good causes.

For our own stores, Clarks has decided to donate all of the money from these charges to charity, with a preference for charities which help young people to be educated, healthy and fulfil their potential. For our franchise stores*, the majority have opted to support Clarks policy of donating all the carrier bag funds to good causes and will be donating to a local charity of the store's choice.

In Northern Ireland, the legislation requires all charges to be given to the NI Department of Environment to help deliver local projects to improve the environment.

Details of the number of bags sold and revenues for the period of 7th April 2019 - 6th April 2020 are provided below. This will be updated annually.

Behaving responsibly is important to us and comes as second nature. Read more about Clarks Corporate Responsibility.

*In England, businesses with less than 250 employees (such as our franchise partners) are not required to charge for a bag but may choose to do so.