MP appeals to Rogerson over bag levy delay

The chair of an MPs committee has issued an appeal to resource minister Dan Rogerson for an urgent update on the governments work on the proposed plastic bag levy for England.

Joan Walley, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, wrote to Mr Rogerson last week (April 30) after the minister had said that the governments response to a report published by the Committee in February would be delayed.

In its report (see letsrecycle.com story), the Environmental Audit Committee said that the governments plans for a 5p levy on single use bags which includes an exemption for biodegradable and paper bags were confusing and unnecessarily complicated.

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). It has been scheduled to come into effect from 2015.

Defra had been due to formally respond to the Environmental Audit Committees report in early April, however it had then had to delay this response as it was still seeking the views of other government departments on the issue.

Delay

In her letter Ms Walley wrote: This is an important policy proposal. In our report in February we acknowledged that a charge for plastic carrier bags would bring significant environmental benefits in terms of lower carbon emissions, resource use and litter and contrary to Defras proposals we favoured it being applied to degradable bags for small retailers.

We would be grateful if you could elaborate the reasons for the delay. In particular we would like to know which departments are yet to provide their views and why they have not been able to do so, and your assessment of any sticking points in formulating a government-wide response.

While the government has yet to offer any formal response to the issues highlighted by the Committee, or to its own call for evidence carried out in late 2013, Mr Rogerson yesterday indicated that there are no plans to exempt bags made from recycled plastics from the charging regime.

Writing in response to a written question by the Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell Alec Shelbrook, Mr Rogerson did say however that the Department would seek to encourage efforts to increase the recycle content of plastic carrier bags.

He said: We do not intend to exclude plastic bags containing a defined percentage of recycled plastics from the proposed levy on plastic bags. In addition to measures to reduce usage, we will continue to encourage the recycling of plastic bags and we welcome efforts to increase their recycled content.