Has the plastic bag met its end?

London council leaders have approved a bill to ban plastic carrier bags.

We spoke to four of the UK's leading supermarkets to find out if they're doing enough to encourage people to reduce the number of bags they use.

Read on to find out if environmental organisations think the supermarkets are going far enough.

ASDA

Will Asda enforce a plastic bag ban?

No, it will not be banning plastic bags.

Why not?

An Asda spokesperson told us that consumers need carrier bags in stores when they come in to shop.

They said that re-using and recycling bags is the way forward rather than banning carrier bags from stores.

For that reason the company provides recycling bins for customers to dispose of old bags, hoping consumers will buy Bags for Life and canvas bags instead of the disposable variety.

How many bags are used annually?

Around 2bn bags are used every year.

What are the bags made of?

Asda was still trying to find this information at the time of writing.

TESCO

Will they enforce a plastic bag ban?

No, they will not be banning plastic bags.

Why not?

Tesco is using the "carrot and stick" approach to address the issue, encouraging consumers to re-use bags in their stores through their green clubcard scheme and encouraging consumers to use Bags for Life and hessian bags as an alternative.

How many bags are used annually?

Around 3bn bags are issued every year. It may sound like a lot, but that's 1bn down from the previous year.

What are their bags made of?

The free carrier bags are not made from 100 per cent recycled materials.

Tesco is, however, keen to stress that the bags are degradable. This means the bags break down into materials such as carbon dioxide and water with no harmful residue.

You can find out more about how the bags break down here.

Tesco also offers Bags for Life made from 100 per cent recycled plastic and hessian bags made from 100 per cent natural materials.

SAINSBURY'S

Will Sainsbury's enforce a plastic bag ban?

No, it will not be banning plastic bags.

Why not?

Sainsbury's wants to encourage consumers to use Bags for Life and re-use bags.

How many bags does Sainsbury's use annually?

Around 1.7bn. In the last six months Sainsbury's has seen a 10 per cent reduction - which it attributes to its "bag strategy" of promoting bag re-use and Bags for Life.

What are the bags made of?

Sainsbury's claims it provides the greenest supermarket carrier bag.

A spokesperson said that its free plastic bags are made from around 45 per cent recycled materials. Earlier in the day, however, Sainsbury's CEO Justin King said the same bags were made from 33 per cent recycled materials.

When we checked again, Sainsbury's said that 33 per cent of the bag was made from recycled material, and the other 12 per cent made from chalk.

MORRISON'S

Will Morrison's enforce a plastic bag ban?

No, it will not be banning plastic bags. Instead the company says it will focus on issuing bags if and when customers want them.

Morrison's also has "charity bags" made from 100 per cent recycled materials, and woven bags made from natural fibres. Cardboard boxes are also available if customers wish to use them.

How many bags are used annually?

We are still waiting to hear from Morrison's about how many bags the company issues annually, and what these bags are made from.

The environmentalists' response

Hannah Hislop, spokesperson from environmental think-tank the Green Alliance says: "In an ideal world consumers would use reusable bags for their shopping. We applaud Marks and Spencer for trialling a charge for disposable bags to see how the public respond.

"We need a debate on the best alternatives. A total ban on disposable shopping bags might mean that consumers get used to buying thicker reusable bags all the time for their shopping, while a plastic bag tax may mean shops simply switch to paper instead."

But Waste Watch's Peter Robinson believes there is no such thing as a free carrier bag: "Consumers currently pay for the cost of 'free' carrier bags in the price of the goods that they buy.

"This encourages shoppers to take more bags than they really need and it's unfair to those who are trying to reduce their environmental impacts by reusing bags.

"Instead we should be focusing on reducing the number of bags people use through promoting reusable bags and charging for disposable bags.

"We don't believe the supermarkets' commitment goes far enough - evidence from around the world shows that introducing a levy on disposable bags can reduce their usage by up to 90 per cent; across the UK that would mean more than 11bn fewer bags going to landfill each year."

So are there other towns, cities or countries which have banned plastic bags?

The town of Modbury in Devon has become a plastic bag-free zone after traders pledged not to sell or give away a plastic bag for six months. They are selling jute or corn starch bags instead.

The Californian city of San Francisco will soon be banning plastic bags - the first US city to do so.

Bangladesh is the first country to ban plastic bags over fears they were clogging drains.

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