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Henley toughens stance on carrier bags

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs today criticised the performance of retailers in failing to reduce the number of carrier bags issued and threatened legislation if numbers werent cut.

Responding to figures today which showed an increase in the amount of single-use carrier bags given out by retailers,Lord Henley, minister for recycling, said: This isnt good enough. Retailers need to take responsibility and lift their game to cut down on the number of single use carrier bags they hand out. If results do not improve we will consider additional measures to make this happen, including legislation.

Lord HenleyLord Henley today attacked retailers over the increased usage of single-use carrier bags. He said: “Retailers need to take responsibility and lift their game to cut down on the number of single use carrier bags they hand out.”

Disappointing

Defra told letsrecycle.com that it had only recently seen the figures. A spokeswoman added: They arent good enough. It is an estimated 300 million increase between the two periods which is hugely disappointing especially given the improvements that were made.

The warning comes just a month after Defra opted to delay its consideration any further action on single-use carrier bags for two years, in the wake of the earlier successful carrier bag figures under the voluntary producer responsibility approach. The June 2011 Review of Waste Policy appears to suggest that it had parked issue until late 2013.

One observer told letsrecycle.com that Defra officials appear to have been caught wrong-footed on plastic bags and there will be concerns over whether the producer responsibility approach with the British Retail Consortiumis working.

And, the Department is also seen as being under pressure on the issue because of action being taken on carrier bags in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, with the latter introducing a levy on bags this autumn.

Reductions

The British Retail Consortium responded to Lord Henleys comments, reiterating the fact that tremendous reductions in bag-usage had been achieved in a short time and that further reductions were expected.

And, a spokesman for the BRC added that the debate in the sector needed to be moved on as well to incorporate other areas where bigger benefits could be achieved, such as in the use of energy.

The figures published today (see letsrecycle.com story) were collated by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) but the organisation appeared today to be distancing itself from Lord Henley’s view that action might be taken, despite the fact thatWRAPin 2008 felt that government action on carrier bags could help consumers waste less and recycle more things more often”.

WRAP is close to retailers, working with them on the Courtauld Agreement, and whileithas previously expressed disappointment over the slow performance of retailers to reduce the number of bags, today it declined to comment on their performance even though it is still providing campaign material to cut carrier bag usage.

Ithas previously said a tax or levy on throwaway bags could help play a significant role in changing consumer behaviour by giving a major incentive to re-use bags for shopping. Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, Dr Richard Swannell, director of design and waste prevention at WRAP, explained that while the organisation collated the data, it did not carry out the research involved and so could not comment specifically because it did know the reasons for the increase.

Agreeement

Dr Swannell said: The initial carrier bag agreement ended in May 2009 and there was a commitment from the participating supermarket retailers to continue providing their carrier bag data for us to report on as a sector. That is what we have continued to do. The Courtauld Commitment has never incorporated carrier bags for two reasons. Firstly Courtauld signatories are from the grocery retail sector only, whereas all sorts of retailers (clothing, electrical, home improvement, etc) provide their customers with carrier bags. Secondly, Courtauld signatories include brands and manufacturers so it would be impossible for them to work towards a carrier bag target.

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