Report suggests “modest” green benefits for plastic bag tax

The extended impact assessment, carried out by consultants AEA Technology, looked at costs and benefits of the Bill proposed by MSP Mike Pringle, which would see a 10p levy placed on plastic carrier bags if successful (see letsrecycle.com story).

” The Executive has not yet taken a position on the Bill. We will see what evidence is presented to Committee and what progress we make with the retailers.“
– Scottish Executive
The Scottish Executive report suggests that some environmental benefits would be achieved by the proposed levy – although little waste minimisation would be achieved.

Full environmental benefits would only be seen if the levy was extended to both paper and plastic carrier bags, the study said.

Overall, the report said the levy would only bring about a “modest” environmental benefit compared to the impact of other activities in Scotland. But, it could bring about hundreds of job losses, hit non-food retailers in the pocket and raise concerns for councils tasked with collecting the levy.

Executive
In terms of supporting the Bill – which has been proposed as a private members' Bill – the Scottish Executive continues to sit on the fence in the wake of this latest report.

Commenting on the report, a spokeswoman for the Executive said it would be considering evidence provided to the Bill's Parliamentary scrutiny committee. And, work on a voluntary approach to reducing carrier bag approach would also be a deciding factor.

The spokeswoman said: “The Executive has not yet taken a position on the Bill. We will see what evidence is presented to Committee and what progress we make with the retailers on our proposed Code of Practice on providing plastic bags.

“Our message to consumers is very straightforward: re-use bags wherever possible,” the spokeswoman said.

Levy impact
The Scottish Executive report said that environmental effects of a levy on carrier bags compared to the impacts of other activities in Scotland were “modest”, but it would bring about improvements. Non-renewable energy consumption and the production of pollutants would reduce, while the risk of litter would be “considerably less than the current situation”, it said.

Environmentally, the best option would be to place a levy on both plastic and paper bags, the study said. The current Bill proposes a levy only on plastic bags.

The report cast doubt on criticisms that a levy would hit poorer families, suggesting that consumers would minimise financial effects of a levy by switching to re-usable bags. The study estimated that the levy would ultimately cost the average person no more than 10 per year.

In minimising waste, if the levy included paper bags it would cut waste production by about 5,409 tonnes a year, the study claimed – effectively only a 0.24% decrease in Scotland's household waste. And, the study warns that imposing the levy on just plastic bags would mean household waste production would actually increase – because of a switch to heavier paper bags – by about 0.26%.

Councils
For local authorities, the study warned that smaller councils could end up receiving a smaller amount of the estimated 7.75 million revenue from the plastic bag levy, but would still face similar administration costs to larger authorities. Overall administration costs for local authorities would run to about 3.5 million a year, the study said.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has concerns about councils having the responsibility to collect the bag levy, and is calling for a full investigation.

For retailers, the levy would be of benefit to food retailers, who would see cost savings in householders using re-usable bags and sales increases in bin liners. Non-food retailers would be hit by the need to use paper bags if a levy was imposed on plastic bags.

Jobs
The 15 to 20 companies involved in the manufacture, importing and distribution of plastic carriers bags would all be hit by the proposed Bill, the study confirmed. Direct job losses resulting from the levy have been estimated at between 300 and 700, with further indirect job losses possible.

As an alternative to a plastic bag levy, the trade association Carrier Bag Consortium is working on a voluntary approach for the industry to develop re-use and reduction initiatives. The Scottish Executive study said similar voluntary approaches in Australia had led to a 20% decrease in the use of carrier bags.