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RECOUP t: + 44 (0) 1733 390021 e: enquiry@recoup.org Registered Office: RECycling Of Used Plastics Ltd Tower House Lucy Tower Street Lincoln LN1 1XW Co Reg: 2435729 VAT Reg No: 546 5837 10 Reg Charity No: 1072029 Registered environment body Number: 722037 |
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| Current Issues > News & Comments > Read news | ||
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| The great carrier bag debate | ||
| Main News Page >> | ||
| Published: 18/02/2008 | ||
The future of plastic carrier bags has sparked a lot of debate in recent months, with everyone from supermarkets, to representatives from the packaging industry, to the Prime Minister getting involved.  Each year, over 13 billion bags are issued every year in Britain - approximately 220 per person. Only 1 in 200 are estimated to be recycled.  In 2007, single use plastic bags were banned by councils in Brighton and Modbury, and in December, London councils (with the exception of Hounslow) backed the London Local Authorities (Shopping Bags) Bill prohibiting retailers from supplying free paper and plastic bags in all but a few exempted cases. Other UK towns look likely to follow suit, and on an international level, China has recently announced that from 1 June, it will be banning the production of ultra-thin bags and forbidding supermarkets and shops from handing out free carriers. Multiples including Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield and Tesco have agreed to work with Defra, WRAP and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to reduce the environmental impact of their carrier bags by the end of 2008. Many retailers are promoting the use of alternatives, including their ‘bags for life’, rather than disposable carrier bags. A number have trialled banning or charging for carrier bags for short periods with incentives including free ‘bags for life’ or extra loyalty card points for either not using or recycling disposable carrier bags. Most supermarkets also offer a plastic bag recycling scheme. Last week, Whole Foods Market announced that it will stop issuing single-use plastic carrier bags at all its stores in the UK, US and Canada within the next three months. Gordon Brown got in on the act in November, when he made a speech on climate change. The Prime Minister said he wants to ban all single-use plastic carrier bags as they are ‘one of the most visible symbols of environmental waste’. He believes we can ‘go further’ than reducing their impact, and eliminate single use bags altogether in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives. He plans to convene a forum of supermarkets, the BRC and other interested groups to urgently assess how this can be achieved and in what time frame. The Prime Minister’s comments were blasted by representatives from within the packaging industry, who questioned his environmental priorities. Their argument is that, according to government figures, single-use carrier bags account for only 0.3 per cent of the domestic waste stream. Whilst plastic bags are highly visible, in terms of the weight of product recovered and the ease with which such products can be collected, sorted and reprocessed, Recoup believes that the next major challenge is associated with the increasing focus on recovering pots, tubs and trays. It looks like the debate will continue well into 2008…  For more information on both sides of the debate, please see http://www.carrierbagtax.com/ | ||
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