Durham seeks supermarket assistance in war on plastic bags

The council carried out a survey in December 2002, which found that Durham residents use about 65 million carrier bags each year (see letsrecycle.com story).

As part of the survey work, council officers visited supermarkets and reported back that not enough was being done to promote or make staff aware of carrier bag minimisation measures.

Councillor Joe Armstrong, chairman of the council's sustainability group, said: “Stores could do more to actively encourage the purchase of &#39ba;gs for life' and promote the concept of re-using ordinary disposable bags. Staff within the stores we visited had a limited knowledge of the issues surrounding plastic carrier bags, and we feel supermarkets could usefully raise the awareness of the issues internally.”

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Durham has been particularly keen on the Irish policy of placing a charge equivalent to 10 pence on all plastic carrier bags (see letsrecycle.com story). In Ireland, this has reportedly led to a 90% drop in usage, although critics have said that there has been a significant rise in the use of plastic bin liners as a result.

Some 70% of the Durham residents surveyed by the council were in favour of such a levy, but in England councils don't have the necessary powers to impose such a charge. Durham is therefore looking for other ways of dealing with the issue.

Councillor Armstrong explained: “We have written to Sainsburys, the Co-op, Tesco, Safeway, Somerfield, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Marks and Spencer inviting them to help us develop the pilot scheme. I am sure that what we can achieve between us will not only help reduce the plastic carrier bag problem locally, but provide a useful pointer to what can be achieved nationally too.”

Durham hopes to develop a pilot scheme that will “win the hearts and minds of shoppers by influence and education rather than carrier bag taxation”. This would involve introducing initiatives to encourage the greater re-use of plastic carrier bags, the promotion of &#39ba;gs for life' and persuading more stores to use degradable and bio-degradable carrier bags.

Sainsburys is to trial new carrier bags made from tapioca starch in April. The supermarket chain claims they will be the first fully biodegradable carrier bag to be introduced in the UK. Their rivals Tesco have also looked at the issue of plastic bags, and were given an award in June 2002 by Valpak for their plastic carrier bag recycling scheme (see letsrecycle.com story).