Shoppers to be charged 5p for plastic bags

Thu, 16 Feb 2006
 
Get the latest prices, codes, vouchers & deals fortnightly.
The latest plan to under consideration by Minister to try and reduce the massive mountain of rubbish is to charge 5p every time they use a plastic bag in a supermarket.

It is estimated that each person in Britain uses a plastic bag once a day and households collectively produce 21 million tonnes of rubbish a year.

The aim is to get shoppers to think about re-using bags or to use long lasting cloth bags.

Ben Bradshaw, Environment Minister said he wants to focus on ‘waste prevention’. He went on to say, "We need to put more effort into producing less waste in the first place, before considering how to make more use of the waste which is left by re-using, recycling, composting or using it as a fuel."

A similar tax on plastic bags was implemented by the Irish Republic four years ago, where shoppers had to pay 10p per bag.

The scheme there cut carrier bag use by 90 per cent in the first five months, and raised over £30 million in tax.

In contrast a scheme due to start in Scotland was shelved by the Scottish Executive last year.

A consultation was unveiled by Ministers on the future of waste disposal, including voluntary agreements with manufacturers and retailers to cut packaging. Thirteen retail leaders have already pledged to reduce packaging.

If the plan to reduce packaging and plastic bag tax fails, regulation hasn’t been ruled out.

Friends of the Earth are in favour of the tax plan.

Anna Watson, spokeswoman said, "It is not going to be the solution to the waste crisis but it will send a message to business and the public to think about the resources we use."

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.