Sainsbury’s issued 268 million bags for life and Asda 219 million in one year, both fewer than the 430 million bags issued by Tesco

More than a billion plastic “bags for life” are being handed out annually by supermarkets, undermining their claims to be reducing waste by cutting down on single-use bags.

The main retailers are using more plastic overall in their bags for life than in thin single-use bags, on which the government has imposed a 5p charge.

Supermarkets replace bags for life free of charge but many customers treat them as single-use carriers, discarding them and buying new ones on their next shopping trip.

Sales of 5p bags by Britain’s ten biggest retailers fell by about a fifth last year to 1.2 billion but they also issued 1.18 billion bags for life, which cost between 5p and 10p and typically contain more than twice as much plastic.