Supermarkets donate plastic bag funds to dementia institute

Retailers Iceland, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose will use the proceeds from shoppers’ plastic bag charges to build a dementia research centre in London.

The four supermarkets have pledged to reduce a £100m funding hole in a £350m project for a new Dementia Research Institute at The University College London (UCL), using money from a carrier bag levy.

From 5 October, large retailers in England were required by law to charge 5p for plastic bags to reduce waste and the supermarkets' pledge could see the project raise £20m in the first year, depending on shoppers’ carrier bag usage.

At the time of the plastic bag levy’s introduction in England (already in force in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) many shoppers had questioned how the extra cash would be spent. The new Dementia Research Institute follows an agreement made by Prime Minister David Cameron and the World Dementia Council to identify a cure or disease-modifying therapy for dementia by 2025. 100 per cent of the funds will go to the institute.

The chief executives of Iceland, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose are writing to the CEOs of all UK food retailers to urge them to donate funds to the research institute.

In a statement Waitrose said: “This centre has the potential to make a difference to thousands of people affected by this disease, which we know has impacted on the lives of many of our partners and customers.”

The global cost of dementia is estimated to be more than £500 billion.

Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, said: “UCL is home to one of our three new dementia drug discovery institutes, which will spearhead the search for the next generation of treatments – it will take scientists working collaboratively on this scale to bring relief to millions of lives blighted by dementia worldwide.”

Professor Nick Fox, director of the UCL Dementia Research Centre, said: “UCL can and will bring unmatched research breadth and depth as Europe’s leading neuroscience centre and Europe's leading clinical dementia research."

Professor Alan Thompson, dean of the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, said:“Dementia is the greatest scientific, medical and socio-economic challenge of our times and affects more than 35 million people worldwide.

He added: "Philanthropy has made a huge difference in tackling global diseases such as cancer and malaria and this unprecedented initiative sees UK retailers acting collaboratively to tackle the tragedy that is dementia and neuro-degenerative diseases."