Charge for plastic carrier bags

[cgksheff]

Ok but who gets the 5ps

 

Assuming that the legislation will be similar to that enacted for other regions, the 5p has to be paid by the seller to the government.

The sellers become unpaid tax collectors.

Do not be surprised if sellers charge more than 5p, in order to cover their administration costs.

 

It will be down to the government body responsible as to how these revenues are distributed ... to charities or not.

[Andy]

But your bog standard morrisons bag you can recycle, it says so on the bag. My council refused to do so.

 

Are you trying to recycle it when it's new, or when it's been used several times and is now useless? Even if you do take the bags to be recycled (and all the big supermarkets do have a carrier bag recycling bin, so there is no need for the council to collect them), this is still a waste of energy. Using it once and then recycling it is still a huge waste of energy.

 

---------- Post added 05-06-2014 at 06:25 ----------

 

Free, paper, carrier bags? They worked in the past, so why not now? Remember Safeways? I recall they used to have heavyweight paper grocery bags.

 

I get a magazine mailed to me each month in a clear, plastic-like, biodegradable envelope made from potato starch. It's sturdy enough to go through the postal system. The answers are out there.

 

The thing is, it's not just about the waste going to landfill. The other environmental impact is the amount of energy used to make, and transport these bags up and down the land. Paper bags use more energy to manufacture and transport and can be reused less than a plastic bag, so paper isn't automatically better than plastic just because it can be recycled.

 

Why this obsession with disposable bags? The reusable bags Morrisons sell are only 50p and will last a lifetime.

 

Next step should be to tackle all those little flimsy bags that the cashiers insist on putting meat, veg etc in.

 

---------- Post added 05-06-2014 at 06:26 ----------

 

an intruiging thought, i wonder what they will make of them

 

They will probably look back with horror and despair at what we did to their planet.

[Zamo]

The whole thing is a charade because the impact is so minute in the scheme of things. It has been embraced by the government because it is easy to implement and they can be seen doing something... and politicians just love to be seen doing things whether it makes a positive difference or not.

 

Bags for life? No such thing. It is like paying for a buffet and then pretending you've only had one bowl when you've been back and topped up half a dozen times.

[aliceBB]

 

Bags for life? No such thing. It is like paying for a buffet and then pretending you've only had one bowl when you've been back and topped up half a dozen times.

 

Seriously flawed analogy. In any case, why would you pay for a buffet, then pretend you had not refilled your bowl (when it is expected you will do so)? Plain daft.

 

Shopping bags and baskets can be for life if they are reasonably strong and not abused...the tough plastic ones sold by the major supermarkets seem to go on forever. The difficulty for most people is remembering to take them to the shops with them. Financial penalties like 5p for each new bag you request do seem to work in other countries and will do here, even for people who couldn't give a flying fart about reducing their carbon footprint.

 

And if it means the streets will have fewer of the things blowing around, and that the sea will contain fewer of them to choke the wildlife, that's another environmental advantage.

Edited June 5, 2014 by aliceBB

[Andy]

The whole thing is a charade because the impact is so minute in the scheme of things.

 

In April 2002, a dead Minke whale washed up on the Normandy coast. An investigation found that the animal’s stomach contained 800 kg of plastic bags.

 

http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/10/18/plastic-invasive-to-marine-life/

 

If the tax reduces the number of bags being thrown away, that end up killing our beautiful marine life, then the impact is not minute.

[hyper]

I pity our bin men. In future, I'll just be tipping my household waste into the black bin, sans plastic carrier bag - it will stink. It could be worse, but fortunately no babies nappies

[Zamo]

Seriously flawed analogy. In any case, why would you pay for a buffet, then pretend you had not refilled your bowl (when it is expected you will do so)? Plain daft.

 

Shopping bags and baskets can be for life if they are reasonably strong and not abused...the tough plastic ones sold by the major supermarkets seem to go on forever. The difficulty for most people is remembering to take them to the shops with them. Financial penalties like 5p for each new bag you request do seem to work in other countries and will do here, even for people who couldn't give a flying fart about reducing their carbon footprint.

 

And if it means the streets will have fewer of the things blowing around, and that the sea will contain fewer of them to choke the wildlife, that's another environmental advantage.

 

No bag last for life. Thinking they could is plain daft.

 

Taxing plastic bags, that is just one type of litter choking the wildlife, isn't going to make much difference.

 

---------- Post added 05-06-2014 at 09:57 ----------

 

http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/10/18/plastic-invasive-to-marine-life/

 

If the tax reduces the number of bags being thrown away, that end up killing our beautiful marine life, then the impact is not minute.

 

The report you link to estimates "Tens of thousands of marine species are killed every year due to our plastic waste". What percentage of that relates to disposable carrier bags? And if people stop using disposable carrier bags for bin liners and use proper bin liners then how much plastic will that stop getting into the environment and killing marine life?

 

Banning carrier bags will have a minute impact. Literally a drop in the ocean.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Zamo

[Mandem]

Just a simple question, how do the carrier bags get into the sea in such staggering quantities?

[aliceBB]

Just a simple question, how do the carrier bags get into the sea in such staggering quantities?

 

They are blown in or thrown in. Ships dump plastic waste when they think they can get away with it. The tides disperse them into deeper waters.

 

Tens of millions of bags are given away in shops every day, year in year out. Some of them will be dispose of more safely; many will not. They end up on streets and in the countryside and on beaches. This has been going on for decades. Plastic decomposes very, very slowly.

[CarolW]

We've had this for years here in Wales, you get used to it and it does make a difference - you certainly don't see as many carrier bags littering the streets....!!

 

It's when I come up to Sheffield, go to a supermarket and when asked if I need a bag, the automatic response is "No"..... Then I go outside and think "I could have had a free carrier!!!".....

 

I have a stash of carriers that I keep if I need one - I do online shopping and have selected the "No carrier bag" option, but they still put meat and cleaning products in the bags....

 

:)