In the past the city council has voiced strong support for charging consumers for each plastic bag they use (see letsrecycle.com story).
In a report to be considered by Aberdeen's environment committee on Tuesday, council officers reconfirmed this support but questioned whether councils should be expected to administer and police the levy.
If approved by the committee, the report will form a response to MSP Mike Pringle's proposals for an Environmental Levy Bill for Scotland including a plastic bag tax similar to Ireland's.
The council said: “Aberdeen city council welcomes the ethos behind the proposed Environmental Levy Bill, and has sympathy for the damage that reckless disposal of plastic bags can cause. However, it is appreciated that there are a number of operational concerns when implementing such a levy.”
The council would like to see the levy collected by a central system as it is in Ireland. But the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to impose national taxes, only at a local authority level.
Aberdeen council said: “While we appreciate that taxation is a reserved matter for the Westminster Parliament, and this being so, the only way to introduce a Scottish Tax is at local authority level, we do not feel that local authorities are best placed to provide this service.”
The report said that councils would need extra staff, office space, financial support and new technology to manage and police the levy. “The reasoning behind this is the costs to set up, maintain and police the policy are untenable if funding is not attached to the initiative,” it said.
Retailers have been strong opponents of charges on plastic bags and have managed to persuade the UK government in Westminster not to pursue a similar levy for the whole of the UK.
But there is now a growing feeling among Scottish retailers that Mike Pringle's Bill will go through. If it does it is thought that they may call for a levy on carrier bags of all materials.
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