A total of 14 packaging, plastic products and retail goods companies have decided to join the fight led by the Carrier Bag Consortium. The CBC is made up of plastic bag suppliers and has already contributed to the decision by Westminster not to pursue a tax on carrier bags for England.
At a recent closed meeting of Scottish businesses held at Glasgow Airport, Peter Woodall of the CBC said: “The people of Scotland should know that this idea constitutes nothing more than a cynical stealth tax designed to secure the votes of those who genuinely care about the environment but know little about life cycle environmental impacts.”
Mike Pringle a Member of the Scottish Parliament has proposed introducing a levy on plastic carrier bags that would see consumers pay for each plastic bag they use. There is currently a consultation on his proposals with a deadline for responses of May 14, 2004.
His proposals are based on the plastic bag tax in the Republic of Ireland, where the law has reported a 90% reduction in the used of plastic carrier bags.
But Neil Young, managing director of Glasgow-based Simpac one of the businesses involved, claimed: “Mike Pringle repeats popular myth and misinformation with not verifiable facts, not verifiable statistics and speculative and inaccurate conclusions.”
The CBC believes that a 10p levy on each plastic carrier bag represents a 2000% tax on the value of a plastic bag. It said: “A plastic carrier bag is already taxed two or three times in its life. It is taxed as packaging under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. It is also taxed when it enters landfill. And, if imported as most supermarket carriers are, it is subject to 6.5% import tax.”
Other reasons given by the CBC against a levy on plastic carrier bags include that it would increase theft while having little impact on litter and landfill. It also said that efforts should concentrate on the re-use and recycling of plastic carrier bags.
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