Defra in a mess over bag levy plans

A Parliamentary committee which had been scrutinising Defras plans to implement a 5p charge on single use carrier bags has described proposals put forward by the Department as a complete mess.

The Environmental Audit Committee, published its report into the governments planned levy today (February 6) and said that the levy must be kept simple, if it is to work in England when it comes into effect in 2015.

Charging schemes have already been implemented in Wales and Northern Ireland, with a similar scheme also scheduled to come into effect in Scotland.

Defra has proposed that biodegradable bags will be exempt from the scheme in England, as well as ruling that it will not apply to retailers with less than 250 employees.

Opponents of the exemption for biodegradable bags say that it is not possible to recycle degradable bags alongside standard plastic carriers due to the difference in the structure of the material and promoting their use could undermine the recycling of plastic films.

Exemption

In its report the EAC said that exemptions for small retailers and paper and biodegradable bags make it confusing for consumers, potentially harmful for the recycling industry, and less effective than the scheme in Wales, where bag use has been reduced by over 75% with a straightforward 5p charge on all disposable carrier bags.

Concerns were also raised during the inquiry that bio-degradable bags would still cause litter and harm wildlife because of the time it takes discarded bags to decay. The Committee is calling on Defra to drop the exemption.

Chair of the committee, Joan Walley the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said: Ministers have managed to make a complete mess of their planned carrier bags charge by making it unnecessarily complicated. Carrier bags litter our streets and harm wildlife, and the government is right to want reduce their use. But Defra seems to have made decisions about the design of this scheme that were based on more wishful thinking than hard evidence.

Biodegradable bags are not as green as they first sound. We heard that they can do as much harm to wildlife as normal plastic bags and could cause big problems for the UK recycling industry, which would have trouble separating and processing the different material.

Plans to introduce a 5p levy on single-use plastic bags were first announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in September (see letsrecycle.com story). Defra also launched its own call for evidence into the proposed carrier bag charge in November.

Impact

Responding to the Committees comments the Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) backed the call for simplicity in the levy, and expressed disappointment that figures used by Defra to calculate the environmental impact of a charge for bags were wildly inaccurate (see letsrecycle.com story).

PAFA chief executive Barry Turner, said: We give due credit to the EAC for responding to the carbon challenge and we understand their need to keep the tax simple. We are also glad the Committee acknowledge the need for more research on the real effects of bag taxes on public behaviour such as littering but we are disappointed that disputed litter figures and wildly inaccurate calculations on bag impacts are still influencing peoples views.

We also believe that if we are to suffer a carrier bag tax, the monies should be used to boost recycling and to educate consumers. These are missed opportunities for supporting the UK recycling industry and changing habits on littering.