MAJOR retailers have donated more than £1 million to charity since the five pence charge for a carrier bag was introduced six months months ago.

Supermarkets Asda, the Co-operative, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons have raised £1m between them for good causes since the charge came into effect in October last year.

Speaking ahead of the six-month anniversary on Monday, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said the legislation had also cut plastic bag usage by 80 per cent.

Supermarket giant Asda has recorded a 90 per cent drop in carrier bag use while raising £350,000 from the customers who did purchase a bag. The cash is being split between two social enterprise charities, Social Investment Scotland and Foundation Scotland.

The Co-operative Food has used the 5p charge to raise £375,000 for community projects across Scotland, reporting a usage reduction of 80 per cent.

Marks & Spencer has raised £214,374 for good causes, with £88,446 going to the Marine Conservation Society, £88,446 going to WWF, including the Orkney sustainable Fishery Improvement Programme, and a further £37,482 going to a range of local Scottish charities.

The retailer is also reporting an overall usage reduction of around 50 per cent in the past six months. It comes on the back of previous reduction in carrier bag usage achieved when the store implemented a 5p charge on larger bags in 2008.

Morrisons has also reported an 80 per cent reduction, and funds raised for the Morrisons Foundation, which will donate to good causes in Scotland. The supermarket did not disclose the exact amount raised through carrier bag charging but said it was "in line with" the amount collected by the other supermarkets.

Over the coming months, Zero Waste Scotland will collect data on carrier bag use and funds raised for good causes ahead of the first official figures being released later this year.

Mr Lochhead said: "This primary purpose of this legislation is to clean up our streets and beaches by cutting carrier bag use. But it's also fantastic that the charge has already raised so much money for worthy causes from just these four retailers alone. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I am looking forward to seeing fuller figures later in the year - but in the meantime I encourage all retailers to sign up to the Carrier Bag Commitment to ensure that shoppers can have full transparency over where the money being raised from the charge is going."

Other major retailers including Scottish branches of McDonalds, Waitrose, Argos and Mango are among those signed up to the charging scheme, along with tourist destinations such as Gleneagles and Edinburgh's Camera Obscura.

Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland said: "It's great to hear carrier bag usage in Scotland has dropped so significantly since the 5p charge was introduced. As well as removing thousands of bags from circulation, it's also fantastic that nearly one million pounds has been raised for good causes across the country.

"Before the charge Scotland consumed a staggering 800 million carrier bags every year, many of which ended up polluting our environment and threatening wildlife. So, it's really great to see just how successful this initiative has been."