The decision comes hot on the heels of the Daily Mail's campaign to ban plastic bags, which launched yesterday with a nine-page report on the environmental impact.
M&S will charge 5p for plastic bags but will also offer its customers free "bags for life". The retailer expects to hand out 20m in April in preparation for the 5p charge beginning in May.
The bags for life will be replaced free of charge when they wear out and be sent for recycling.
Funds raised from the scheme will be donated to Groundwork, an environmental regeneration charity.
As well as running throughout its food stores, the scheme will also be supported by M&S's franchise partners including BP and Moto.
Some 13bn plastic bags are given away free to UK shoppers every year, and they take an estimated 1,000 years to decay.
Sir Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, said: "We want to make it easy for our customers to help the environment and our trials have shown us they want to take action.
"Just imagine if M&S customers across the UK cut the number of food bags they use by 70% -- that's over 280m bags."
In 2002, the Irish government introduced a bag tax, currently 16p, which led to a 90% reduction in the use of bags.
UK retailer Ikea and discount outlets Aldi and Lidl also charge for plastic bags.
China's government has recently taken more dramatic measures in its environmental efforts with a total ban on bags under 0.025mm thick. This has resulted in the closure of the country's biggest plastic bag manufacturer Suiping Huaqiang Plastic, which employed 20,000 people.
The Daily Mail is continuing its campaign to "banish the bags" today with a seven-page report on the issue, highlighting M&S as its first major breakthrough. The front page features the image of a struggling giant turtle draped in a plastic bag.
Read Brand Republic editor Gordon MacMillan's on the Mail's campaign here.