Wales 5p carrier bag charge becomes law

The Welsh Assembly Government has approved plans to make retailers legally obligated to charge for every single-use carrier bag.

 

No one has to pay the charge; it can be simply avoided if we remember to carry reusable bags when we do our shopping

 
Jane Davidson, Welsh environment minister 

The law, which will come into effect on October 1 2011, was approved yesterday (November 30) and makes Wales the first UK country to place a statutory requirement on shoppers to pay five pence for the use of bags. The charge is intended to help drive down the number of single use carrier bags given out to shoppers.

The Single Use Carrier Bag Charge (Wales) Regulation has set the levy at five pence – having previously mooted a seven pence charge – as the Welsh Assembly Government believes the charge is high enough to encourage change without diminishing impulse purchases.

Environment minister Jane Davidson laid the draft regulations on the charge before the National Assembly earlier this month (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, speaking in the wake of the National Assembly approval yesterday, Ms Davidson said that there is “no doubt” that a charge is necessary in order to combat the proliferation of “completely unnecessary” bags.

Ms Davidson said: “The charge has cross party support and has always been popular with the public and I am certain that it will help us to significantly reduce the number of carrier bags given out in Wales.”

“The idea of the charge is not to make people pay for carrier bags,” the minister added. “Rather it is to encourage shoppers to make use of the bags they already have. No one has to pay the charge; it can be simply avoided if we remember to carry reusable bags when we do our shopping.”

The introduction of the charge was originally intended for April but has been delayed until October in order to accommodate the needs of businesses and, according to the Welsh Assembly Government, allow for a “smoother and more successful introduction”.

The announcement of the carrier bag charge coincides with a raft of Welsh waste legislation coming to the fore over the course of the past month, including the National Assembly approving plans to introduce a 70% statutory recycling target (see letsrecycle.com story).