LONDON – The Week reports that large retailers in England must charge their customers for every single-use plastic bag under a new law designed to cut down on the use of plastic bags to reduce litter and protect wildlife that can be harmed by plastic bags thrown out into the environment. When customers want a new plastic bag for most purchases (except for certain products that usually require bags, like flowers and raw meat), retailers from companies with more than 250 employees now charge them 5 pence for what they had previously received for free.

The change follows a similar change in another United Kingdom nation, Wales, which has seen a 79% decrease in customers using plastic bags at stores in the first three years since it started charging for plastic bags. Last year, England was by far the largest consumer of plastic bags in the U.K. retail industry. Out of the 8.5 billion single-use plastic bags handed out by U.K. supermarkets in 2014, more than 7.6 billion were distributed in England’s stores.

Even though the law doesn’t apply to small businesses like independent convenience stores, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is encouraging its members in England to introduce their own voluntary charges for plastic bags to decrease their use.

“Independent retailers in England support the introduction of a universal 5p single-use carrier bag charge, with 15% already having their own voluntary scheme in place,” James Lowman, chief executive of the ACS, said in a statement.