A Western Australian supermarket has been forced to scrap a plastic bag purchase scheme after only half a day due to customer backlash.

Denmark Supa IGA store manager Bob Cybula last week introduced a 10-cent charge for bags as a stepping stone towards not having plastic bags at all, and to contribute to the greater goal being pushed by community members of a plastic bag-free Denmark.

But the new scheme did not last long.

"The reason why I stopped it was my staff got abused on the first day of launch," Mr Cybula said.

"I got emails saying I was greedy, propping the bottom line up.

"We are not propping up our bottom line, we want to minimise the plastic bags in Denmark."

Mr Cybula said some local businesses had boycotted the store and several customers used colourful language to express their anger at being charged.

"My staff got absolutely hammered by customers saying we are ripping them off, 'This is unreasonable', 'What the heck are you doing?'" he said.

Mr Cybula said all proceeds from the sale of the bags was to go to community groups.

"We donate every year tens of thousands of dollars to the community. Every bag that gets rung up, the computer traces it … nothing to my bottom line, nothing at all," he said.

The store manager hoped to trial the scheme again later this year.

"Going forward we really have to educate the community. I would like to have another crack at it ... introduce it a bit slower," he said.

Community education needed

Denmark Chamber of Commerce president Beverly Ford said more community education on the environmental impact of plastic bags was needed.

"I think that a lot of the brouhaha about this is lack of education and publicity," she said.

"Now this has occurred, I will be speaking to Bob [Cybula] and see what we can do in assisting him to spread the word."

Plastic Bag Free Denmark coordinator Karen Andersson said she was aware of plenty of Denmark residents who supported the scheme.

"Most people in Denmark think it is fantastic. People have gone in there and said 'Good on you'," she said.

"I think it is a minor hiccup and I do not have any hesitation in believing it will ultimately be a success."

Encouraged by Plastic Bag Free Denmark's Facebook page, Ms Andersson said Supa IGA had so far received more than 100 emails of support for the bag-charging scheme.

Charge a success in ACT, Britain as shoppers use fewer bags

The ACT is plastic bag-free, and within the first three years of implementation there was a 36 per cent drop in the number of bags going to landfill.

Britain also has dramatically reduced its plastic bag use just months after the government there introduced a 5-pence (about 8 Australian cents) charge last October.

About seven billion bags were handed out by seven main supermarkets in the year before the charge, but this number plummeted to about 500 million in the first six months after the charge was introduced.

The rule means retailers with 250 or more full-time employees must charge a minimum of 5p for single-use bags.

About 8 million tonnes of plastic makes its way into the world's oceans each year, posing a serious threat to the marine environment, according to a study published in Science.