Charges introduced by Marks & Spencer have reduced plastic bag use
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Wales plans to bring in compulsory plastic bag charge
Ecologist
16th October, 2009
Welsh Government says a charge is the only way to reduce plastic bag use further and encourage reuse
The Welsh Assembly Government has said it wants to bring in a compulsory charge on all plastic bags given out to shoppers.
Environment minister Jane Davidson said the evidence from charging schemes brought in by Marks & Spencer and in other countries around the world shows that it reduces use.
She was speaking after the publication of a study looking at the implications of charging for carrier bags.
The study, by environmental consultancy AEA Technology, found the Republic of Ireland had achieved significant reductions in plastic bag usage and littering since introducing a change in 2001.
Reductions
In the UK, Ikea and Marks & Spencer have reduced bag use by between 80 and 90 per cent since introducing charges.
The study also questioned moves to promote high density polyethylene (HDPE) degradable bags, which have chemical additives added to make them degrade quicker. It said conditions in landfill or elsewhere, 'might not be conducive to reliable degradation'.
Mrs Davidson said she wanted charging to be 'the norm' in Wales.
'In countries as diverse as China, Japan through to Finland, Iceland and Italy some form of charge is the norm.
'I have always said I am an evidence-based minister and this report backs up my view that introducing a charge on single-use carrier bags is the only way to further reduce the amount of single use carrier bags we use in Wales whilst also encouraging people to re-use bags.
'This is about changing consumer habits for the long term good of our environment.
'In simple terms, the evidence shows introducing a charge works,' said Mrs Davidson.
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Users Comments
Re: Wales plans to bring in compulsory plastic bag chargeSupermarkets and large chain stores such as B&Q who manage to find reasons to stick even the humble screw driver into a barrage of high density undegradable plastic packaging are the main culprits in this litter lout war. Pathetic effort is made to find recyclable materials and practically no council authority anywhere makes anything beyond the most desultory efforts to recycle anything. Most of these gargantuan enterprises simply dump the onus on the consumer - which is both exploititive and cynical. It's the supermarkets and other large scale outlets that need penalising and hitting hard too, levelling them with mandatory littering charges in proportion to the amount of packing they impell onto the consumer. This charge should be punitive and unable to passed on to the consumer and that will be the only way outlets like Tescos will be brought into line. A daily fine of £50,000 - £100,000 per store would be a step in the right direction with funds going toward the cleaning up of landfill sites and clearing streets of their litter. Until this takes effect, I suggest enyone buying anything that arrives in some form of plastic packaging tosses the packing back into the store and if the store then fails to recycle they are punished accordingly upon the principle of the polluter paying. | |
Re: Wales plans to bring in compulsory plastic bag chargeIt is a pity that in the admirable attempt to curb the use of plastic bags in Wales, no appraisal seems to have been made of bags made of oxo-biodegradable plastic - nor any exemptions or lower price tags suggested for them either.
'Oxo-bio' plastic has had its fair share of challengers and sceptics recently, not infrequently from competitve degradable lobbies!
However, test after test shows that it lives up to its claims of environmental responsiblity.
Perhaps the most important of these is that it will degrade 'to order'. In other words, you can "tell" it when to degrade by programming a pre-set lifespan into it during manufacture (from as little as six months, up to a few years).
Also, that when it does degrade it will do so completely and of its own accord, without leaving any messy or harmful fragments, nor any noxious metals or trace elements.
Vitally, its degradation process (which simply mimics that of nature) is effective both on land or in water, which could not only mean a tidier countryside, but less polluted oceans and rivers.
Reassuringly perhaps, in these carbon conscious days, its degradation process is completely free of methane, even when buried in a landfill.
It is little used as yet in the UK, though it is used by two of the country's leading supermarket groups. However,it is becoming increasingly popular in developing countries with a growing plastic waste problem, but with difficulties of collecting it and getting rid of it.
In these countries, its ability to degrade automatically at the end of its pre-determined lifespan has already proved highly effective in clearing previously clogged water courses and storm drains.
In this regard, Professor Gerald Scott, one of the UK's leading experts in plastics technology, believes that if the plastic floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had been oxo-biodegradable, most of it would have degraded by now.
If the Welsh Assembly would go some way to encouraging supermarkets and shops to switch to oxo-biodegradable bags, this could go some way to clearing those delightful Welsh beaches of their current crop of plastic detritus.
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Re: Wales plans to bring in compulsory plastic bag chargeHow much real effect is banning the bag going to have?
Surely a greater effect would be to ban the excessive immediate packaging.
I reuse the few plastic bags I get, I use them for carrying dirty boots home, as laundry bags when I'm travelling etc etc.
Ireland saw a dramatic rise in the sale of bin liners after taxing plastic bags. I believe in the Reduce, reuse Recycle theme - how can we reduce & reuse the immediate food packaging? |
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