Call for levy on single-use bags in England

Four environmental organisations have joined forces to call for a levy on single-use bags in England, following the success of such levies in Wales and Ireland.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Keep Britain Tidy, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are calling on the government to reduce litter and waste by requiring retailers to introduce a small levy on all single-use bags. Together they have launched the Break the Bag Habit campaign.

According to the Campaign, the number of carrier bags used in England has increased over the past two years despite repeated calls by Government for retailers to reduce the numbers they give out.

Last year businesses in the UK issued plastic bags at a rate of 254 a second. And, according to figures published last month by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (see letsrecycle.com story), a total of eight billion thin-gauge plastic bags were issued during 2011 – a 5.4%increase on the 7.6 billion bags issued in 2010.

All of this net growth in the use of such plastic bags came from England, the only home nation not to have a single-use bag levy in place or to be actively seeking to implement one.

The Campaign says the increase in carrier bag use mirrored a rise in plastic bags littering. Last year, during the Marine Conservation Societys national Beachwatch beach cleaning event, volunteers collected over 5,000 bags in just one weekend.

Wales

After the first year ofa bag levyin Wales, charging 5p per bag, the number of single-use bags issued has fallen by between 70 and 96%, as estimated by retailers. In turn, public support for the Welsh bag levy has grown to 70 %. When Ireland introduced a plastic bag levy in 2002, plastic bag use fell by 90%. Before the Irish levy plastic bags made up 5% of visible litter, afterwards it dropped to 0.32%.

The Campaign cited Prime Minister David Cameron, who said in 2011: Progress overall went backwards last year, and that is unacceptable. Retailers need to do better. I want to see significant falls again. I know that retailers want to do better too but if they dont I will be asking them to explain why not.

The Campaign is now urging members of the public to write to their local MPs to call for a levy to be introduced.

Samantha Harding, CPRE stop the drop campaign manager, said: Bag levies have been proven to work in Ireland and Wales. A levy is coming soon to Northern Ireland and Scotland is already consulting on introducing one. Why must the English countryside be the last to benefit from good environmental policies?

Retailers

Commenting on the campaign,the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents UK retailers,stressed that the number of carrier bags used in 2011 was still a third lower than in 2006, with the majority of shoppers doing their best to reuse bags and the recent rise in use attributable to changing shopping habits.

However,it added that if reducing carrier bag use was a priority for the government then it would need to go beyond voluntary measures.

A spokesman for theBRC said: Its no surprise the use of a bag charge in Wales has reduced the number of bags taken by consumers there. If other governments see reducing the use of carrier bags as a priority, they will have to take a lead and go beyond voluntary measures. Any legislation should be as similar as possible to whats in place in Wales and we are already working with other governments as they develop their plans.