Plastic bag report backs Scottish carrier bag levy

Released by the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management (ACR+), Plastic Bags: Inventory of Political Instruments also reviews government policy and addresses the negative impact of using single-use plastic bags in European Union member states.

The report labelled carrier bags as a symbol of a consumer-driven, throw-away society, which are often excluded from recycling schemes.

The report comes just days after the Scottish Government announced that Scottish retailers would charge a minimum of 5p per carrier bag from October 2014.

The move follows the introduction of 5p levies for carrier bags in both Wales in 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story) and Northern Ireland in April this year (see letsrecycle.com story).

Retailers will be expected to donate proceeds from the levy to good causes, which will apply to all single-use bags of any material.

Throwaway society

The ACR+ report clarifies that while plastic bags generate more litter, many Scottish retailers consider paper bags worse for the environment in terms of production and transport costs.
Announcing the measure on Friday (June 28), Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: Discarded carrier bags highlight our throwaway society. We use more carrier bags per head in Scotland than any other part of the UK and this is unsustainable.

Carrier bags are a highly visible aspect of litter and we are taking decisive action to decrease their number. By reducing the amount being carelessly discarded we can cut litter and its impact on our environment and economy. A small charge should also encourage us all to stop and think about what we discard and what can be re-used.

The charge has also been welcomed by Zero Waste Scotland, whose director Ian Gulland said the group continued to support initiatives that aim to tackle litter.

He said: We can all reduce the impact of carrier bags by making sure that when we must take one, we re-use it over and over again as many times as possible and then recycle it at the end of its life.

Encouraging the reuse of carrier bags will complement wider action to tackle litter, which will be published later this summer. Moves to cut litter on land, in the sea and river systems will be set out as strategies for consultation.

Support

Emerging support for bag levies from the UKs devolved governments was set in motion by the Climate Change Act 2008, which allowed powers to introduce thin-walled carrier bag charges in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A series of early voluntary agreements with retailers, brokered by the UKs Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), has also been key in swinging public opinion in favour of reducing carrier bag usage.

In September 2012, the London parliamentary Assembly unanimously agreed a motion to impose a similar levy across England (see letsrecycle.com story).

According to WRAP, the UK used almost eight billion single-use bags in 2011.