Multiples have warned against fully applying the government's proposed 5p plastic bag charge to pharmacies in England, but have disagreed on the level of exemption.  

Lloydspharmacy vowed to push for all pharmacy goods to be exempt from the charges, due to come in from 2015. Superdrug's concerns centred on prescription items, while the Co-operative Pharmacy voiced support for a similar system to Wales, where medicines and pharmaceutical appliances are exempt.  

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced plans to introduce a mandatory plastic bag charge at the Liberal Democrat party conference, held from September 14-18. The charge will apply to businesses with more than 250 employees, which will be expected to donate the proceeds to charity.

Carrier bags may be "blighting our towns and countryside", according to Nick Clegg, but multiples have said free supply protects patients' privacy

More on plastic bag charges Pharmacies in Wales escape plastic bag charge    Plastic bag charge set to benefit the environment Multiples unite against WAG plastic bag charge plans

Mr Clegg said plastic bags were "blighting our towns and countryside" and highlighted that introducing charges in Ireland, Wales and Switzerland had led to an 80 per cent decrease in carrier bag use.   Lloydspharmacy urged the government to ensure all pharmacies were exempt from the charge. It said that supplying plastic bags for prescription items was "a fundamental aspect of patient privacy" and said the same principle could apply to other items.

"We will press for a blanket exception for all products sold in community pharmacies, as patient privacy is also important for many OTC products," it told C+D.  

Superdrug also vowed to press for some form of pharmacy exemption and stressed that all NHS patients should be treated equally "wherever they pick up their prescription".  

But Janice Perkins, superintendent pharmacist at the Co-operative Pharmacy, highlighted that the introduction of a plastic bag charge in Wales in 2011 had gone smoothly and business impact had been "minimal".  

"We believe this was largely thanks to staff training, because the change was clearly highlighted in pharmacies in advance, and because the Welsh government also ran a successful public information campaign," she told C+D.  

Boots said it was unable to comment until the draft legislation came through.  

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said it would discuss exemptions for pharmacy with the sector; it estimates that more than 7 billion carrier bags were handed out in supermarkets in England alone in 2012.

England was the last country in the UK to agree on a mandatory plastic bag charge. Wales and Northern Ireland already have a charge in place, and Scotland is due to implement a similar system next year.