Darling's plastic bag charge: should we be pleased?

With politicians, it’s never easy, is it? They never come out with it, pure and simple. There are always clauses, exceptions, and promises to reassess in a few months. With plastic bags, what I wanted was direct action, right now. For too long we have pussy-footed around our plastic bag problem.  We should  be joining Ireland - where there has been a charge on plastic bags since 2002.

For here is a rare thing: a green policy that the majority of people agree with. Unlike the rise in the price of fuel or taxing gas guzzlers, a charge on plastic bags is universally supported and anticipated. So, while I salute our Chancellor for promising at least something, his pledge to charge retailers from the start of next year is disappointing. I can’t help feeling that he could have been bolder.

Because, you see, there’s a sub-clause. What many people will choose to ignore is the bit after Darling’s promise. That the charge will begin next year only if the Government “has not seen sufficient progress on a voluntary basis to cut the amount of single-use carrier bags.” So it is dependent on another Government decision, another load of paper work, more talking about it, rather than doing it.

I’ve read enough press releases from supermarkets broadcasting news of their latest plastic bag initiative to make me glaze over whenever I see one. They talk plans to change things in the future; they conduct trials in a handful of stores, but not one of them has taken the difficult route and announced a charge.

That Darling’s budget has a light green hue, I will not deny. I’m impressed by his measures to combat gas-guzzlers and his £26 million commitment to the Green Homes Service to advise consumers on how to reduce domestic carbon emissions, waste and water consumption. This is why in my Body&Soul column this week, he is up for the weekly eco-angel award - unlike Boris Johnson who is a strong contender for eco-sinner, given his opposition to the £25 congestion charge for cars in high CO2 emission bands. But I regret his caution on plastic bags. Had he been bolder, it would have won him cosiderable support. Not least from the eco worriers of this world.

Comments

[laura tallon]

Hi Anna. I totally know how you're feeling. The city of Los Angeles just did a similar thing - took what could have been a great bag ban and turned it into a weak, possible bag ban dependent on the independent efforts of grocers to curb their usage. Ha!

However - the city of Santa Monica (CA) IS on the path to a monumental bag ban - the biggest in the world. The city council last week unanimously voted to draft an ordinance (that still has to be voted on, mind you, but this is a great first step) to ban plastic bags and charge a 15 cent tax on paper bags - aiming to go entirely resuable. Woo-hoo!

My company, evo.com, has been a huge supporter of the non-profit group Heal The Bay who is championing this effort. You can go to either site for more information about the bag ban. We went down to the local farmer's market before the city council meeting to hand out reusable bags and we had a LINE of people waiting for them - we handed out almost 400 bags in under 10 minutes. People love reusable bags, and I hope that in my lifetime I will see the end of the disposable bag. Keep up the good work!

[laura tallon]

Hi Anna. I totally know how you're feeling. The city of Los Angeles just did a similar thing - took what could have been a great bag ban and turned it into a weak, possible bag ban dependent on the independent efforts of grocers to curb their usage. Ha!

However - the city of Santa Monica (CA) IS on the path to a monumental bag ban - the biggest in the world. The city council last week unanimously voted to draft an ordinance (that still has to be voted on, mind you, but this is a great first step) to ban plastic bags and charge a 15 cent tax on paper bags - aiming to go entirely resuable. Woo-hoo!

My company, evo.com, has been a huge supporter of the non-profit group Heal The Bay who is championing this effort. You can go to either site for more information about the bag ban. We went down to the local farmer's market before the city council meeting to hand out reusable bags and we had a LINE of people waiting for them - we handed out almost 400 bags in under 10 minutes. People love reusable bags, and I hope that in my lifetime I will see the end of the disposable bag. Keep up the good work!

[S.Harris]

Obviously you didn't read the Times article last Saturday, exposing this witch-hunt, entirely based on spin and lies, which middle class pressure groups, and luvvies have embraced with open arms?
0.3% of space in landfill...wow !
To try and ram this outrageous stealth tax through, under the "Climate Change" bill, is laughable and beyond outrageous !
All scientific research conclude, plastic bags are indeed the best option, above the alternatives.
The one and only problem with plastic bags is the litter aspect,
an obvious eyesore.
So why can't some kind of daily litter patrols be funded instead, as this is the root problem, and clearly the local councils can't cope ?
What is never mentioned, in this unjust campaign, is the thousands of jobs, and business's which are being devastated, because the public have been brainwashed by the liberal media.
Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas.
Wake up Britain, again you're being duped !
1,2,3, you're back in the room.

[Sedgwick Morrison]

This is the most pointless and lame policy yet. lightweigt plastic bags have been proved to cause no danger to wildlife are more eco-friendly than paper bags....if I suddenly decide to do some shopping am I supposed to put the groceries in my pocket?....there are so many serious issues in the world and yet people worry about plastic bags...I give up.

[brian]

sorry sedgwick but what about the energy needed to make them, the fact tthat they are made of an oil by product, and they are a non)renewable resource and the very real danger they pose to marine life: i cannot think what you could posssibly have read to suggest that they have been proven to do no harm wildlife: what utter tosh

[Sedgwick Morrison]

Brian here are the energy requirements fot plastic v paper bags:

It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.

ENERGY TO PRODUCE BAG ORIGINALLY (BTUs)
Safeway Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs
Safeway Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs
(Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.)

As regards plastic bags harming marine life read this article in our very own Times;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3508263.ece

Time to eat humble tosh

[Peter Wheeler]

In the Eco-warrier column of the Times - Saturday, 15th March, Anna Sheppard answers a question regarding fireplace ashes. Now, I live in town and mostly use smokeless coal for winter fires. I am aware of the RHS's advice re the apparent worthlessness of the ashes from such fires, BUT, as is so often the case, the plants haven't read the RHS's advice. My roses visibly improve both in general growth and blooms when they get a good sprinkling of smokeless fuel ash over the winter months. So - put the stuff on yer roses - they seem to love it! and yahboo to the RHS.

[Michael]

There is nothing wrong with plastic bags except that they do lie around in the environment for too long.The solution is to make them oxo-biodegradable.

This is done by including d2w additive which makes it degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues.

Oxo-bio plastic meets American Standard 6954, and there is little or no additional cost. Yes, it is made from a by-product of petroleum, but this is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Some people would like to stop using petroleum to drive cars and planes, but until that day arrives it makes good environmental sense to use the by-product, which used to be wasted.

Plastics made from crops, are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) in landfill. Also, it is wrong to use land, water and fertilisers to grow crops for bioplastics and biofuels, which drives up the cost of food for the poorest people.(See http://euobserver.com/9/25831/?rk=1)

The same applies to growing cotton or jute to make durable bags. These rapidly become unhygienic and become a durable form of litter, but they can be made from oxo-bio plastic to last up to 5 years.

Paper bags use 300% more energy to produce, they are bulky and heavy and are not strong enough. They will also emit methane in landfill

Michael Stephen
Symphony Environmental, UK

[Nigel's Eco Store]

why don't we all just use reusable bags made from durable, waterproof and recycled materials. wouldn't this be the best solution? Just ban the plastic bags altogether. And I couldn't agree with Anna more, the Chancellor should have been a lot bolder. In my view, it wasn't exactly the greenest budget, maybe a washed down version of green.

[Christine]

Sure plastic bags are a bit of a waste problem. But not half as much of a waste problem as all the unnecessary wrapping and packing on almost everything you buy in the supermarket. Sorry Mr Darling - tax all the packaging not just the bags. Stop doing the easy thing and finish the job completely.

[Radical green]

Ehm, why do we spend time on plastic bags when overpopulation is the actual problem? As John Feeney points out in his latest interview, more people means more consumption (and more plastic bags):

http://www.corrupt.org/act/interviews/john_feeney