How hard can it be to remove all plastic from your supermarket shop? You might be surprised

The UK produces 3.6 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, 1.5 million tonnes of which takes the form of packaging that passes through households like mine. So the government has taken a stand. This week, large shops became required by law to charge 5p for every single-use plastic carrier bag they give out.

According to Defra, supermarkets gave out 8 billion, or 57,000 tonnes, of plastic bags in 2013. And I’m more than happy to embrace my ‘bag for life’. But how much difference will it really make, however, given the overabundance of plastic packaged products that will go inside it?

I call up a charity calked ‘Wrap’, which since 2005 has overseen The Courthauld Commitment, an agreement between grocery retailers and manufacturers to work towards the government’s goal of a ‘zero waste economy’. It’s had significant successes, including a 10 per cent drop in greenhouse gas emissions relating to packaging between 2010 and 2012.