The Bag Charge Is Coming – How Will You Respond?

The world of retail packaging is changing. The Coalition Government has just announced that it intends to introduce a 5p levy on most single-use shopping bags in England from 2015. Shopping habits will change. The type of carrier bags offered to customers will have to change, too. So, as a consumer or as a retailer, how will you respond?

What Type of Bags Will Be Affected?

Any new legislation will mainly hit plastic carrier bags intended for single use, the sort of bag dished out by the millions in supermarkets across the country. But, speaking on the BBC Today programme on Saturday 14th September, the Lib Dem Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, said that it would also apply to single-use paper carrier bags. This is how the bag charge operates in Northern Ireland, where a 5p charge came into operation in April of this year. 

What Will Count as A Single-Use Bag?

We’ll have to wait and see how tightly the legislation defines a plastic or paper single-use carrier. The obvious aim is to reduce drastically the use of standard plastic bags. Of course, many people do use ‘single-use’ plastic bags again, often for waste or to clean up after dogs, but millions of plastic bags go straight from the supermarket into the bin. Going by previous legislation in Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, there will be certain exemptions, for example plastic carriers to wrap fish, or for large prescription orders from a pharmacy. The smaller bags for hand-picking fruit or veg, or for wrapping frozen or meat products, are not usually included. It’s the standard carrier bag that will be targeted.

Will All Shops Have To Charge The Levy?

No, both Ed Davey and the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, have said the planned levy in England will apply to supermarkets and larger stores. How large? Well, the detailed floorspace will be in the legislation, but it appears that corner shops, smaller convenience stores, and single-unit retail outlets will not be affected.

Where Will The Money Go?

Ministers appear keen not to call this a tax. They are hoping that supermarket groups and stores will voluntarily give the money raised by the charge to environmental charities. Some firms do already charge for bags and give the funds to charities and educational trusts.

Has It Worked?

Many would say that it has. When the Republic of Ireland was the first country to introduce a comprehensive plastic carrier bag charge in 2002, use of thin, single-use bags dropped by up to 80%, although that figure has receded a little since. Northern Ireland has seen a similar scale reduction since April. Of course, the sale of thicker, larger ‘Bags For Life’, often charged at 10p,and intended to be used many times, has increased.

The intention of the levy isn’t just to reduce plastic carrier bag consumption, but also to encourage people to reuse them where they are purchased. However some people suggest that even with a 5p charge per bag, many people are not in fact using them again for shopping. Nevertheless, there does appear to have been a long-term change in shoppers’ habits where such charges have been introduced.

What Should Be The Environmental Benefits?

The reduction in the use of oil to make the plastic bags is probably negligible compared to the world-wide use of crude oil for transport and energy. The greater gains from a carrier bag charge, which is principally aimed at plastic bags, will be the reduction of pollution.

First, there is litter. Plastic bags blowing around, littering streets and country lanes alike. Then there is the reduction in waste going to land-fill sites. Ordinary plastic bags may have a useful life of under an hour from shop to home but they can live on in the earth for up to a thousand years.

However, the greatest gain from a reduction in plastic bag usage should come in the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and, yes, even the sewers. In China one reason for introducing restrictions on the use of plastic bags was problems with blocked sewers and treatment works. An Italian study in 2011 found that 70% of the plastic waste in the seas off its western coast came from plastic bags. Plastic bags are a real danger for fish, sea mammals especially, and other marine creatures. Any significant reduction in plastic waste washed into the seas has got be a real environmental benefit.

How Will You Respond?

As a consumer, you may already be using ‘Bags For Life’. You may be moving to cotton bags or Jute shopping bags. Rather than pay multiple 5p charges, most people will in the future think twice about that plastic carrier bag. We will all reuse a bit more.

If you are a retailer, even if you are only a small to medium size business and won’t come into the scope of any proposed English legislation, you will want to think hard about the offer you make to your customers. A shopper may not look too kindly on you if you are still handing out thin single-use plastic bags willy-nilly, whilst the supermarket down the road is making a real effort to be environmentally friendly. So all retailers, large and small, may need to rethink their packaging.

Here at Shopping Bags Direct we do supply paper carrier bags, so we, too, will be looking again at how we can encourage the reuse of bags and recycling. In addition, retailers of all sizes will want to increase the use of strong, long-term reusable carrier bags. We expect demand for our cotton and jute shopping bags to increase as the carrier bag charge is introduced.

With Scotland preparing to introduce a charge, and with charges in place across Wales and throughout Ireland, the plan for an English bag levy will change shopping habits in every part of the British Isles for good. As a consumer or as a retailer, how will you respond?