Lack of publicity over England's shops charging 5p a bag

DigForVictory

Signs now sighted in Asda, but not (yet) in B&M.
Ah well, my bag for life collection will grow & we'll have to pay for bags used as binliners.
TEOTWAWKI, this is not. I hope.

Nilrem

!!!!!! wrote: »

Why? aren't English people capable of understanding things when told.

I don't seem to recall that in the other 3 areas there was great deal of publicity and very little confusion.


Stop making mountains out of molehills!

I remember hearing about the change in Scotland on the news etc.

I have still only heard about the change in the UK on here, by overhearing a shop assistant (none of the assistants have said anything to me), and a single A5 or smaller notice by a self service till.

My local Tesco has no notices up (I was in there last night and kept an eye open), I don't think any of the other stores I've been in have had a notice.
It's not been in the news that I've seen (I tend to have one news channel or another on most of the time I'm at home).

At the moment there seems to be no publicity about it at all.


So it's not that people are saying there should be a big fuss and massive amounts of publicity about the charge, but there should be some sort of warning notices ahead of time.
At the moment as I say, I've only seen a single small in store notice by a specific type of checkout.

Pollycat

Nilrem wrote: »

I remember hearing about the change in Scotland on the news etc.

I have still only heard about the change in the UK on here, by overhearing a shop assistant (none of the assistants have said anything to me), and a single A5 or smaller notice by a self service till.

My local Tesco has no notices up (I was in there last night and kept an eye open), I don't think any of the other stores I've been in have had a notice.
It's not been in the news that I've seen (I tend to have one news channel or another on most of the time I'm at home).

At the moment there seems to be no publicity about it at all.


So it's not that people are saying there should be a big fuss and massive amounts of publicity about the charge, but there should be some sort of warning notices ahead of time.
At the moment as I say, I've only seen a single small in store notice by a specific type of checkout.

I wasn't aware of it until I read this thread.

Earlier this week, This Morning did a bit on it with Alice Beere - I don't think she explained it very well.

I've started taking a bag for life out with me even when I've no plans to do any shopping.
I refused a bag in Boots after buying some suncream saying 'I'd better get used to bringing my own'. The SA didn't seem particularly clued-up.

teddysmum

Having not read all this thread, I don't know whther the following has been mentioned:


The government has announced exceptions where shops don't have to charge, examples being raw meat and fish. However, should you put just one tiny item, not on the exceptions list (eg a ball pen), into a bag containing lots of exceptions, you have to be charged for the bag.


I think this is going to cause confusion and arguments, therefore holdups , at tills.

wealdroam

teddysmum wrote: »

Having not read all this thread, I don't know whther the following has been mentioned:


The government has announced exceptions where shops don't have to charge, examples being raw meat and fish. However, should you put just one tiny item, not on the exceptions list (eg a ball pen), into a bag containing lots of exceptions, you have to be charged for the bag.


I think this is going to cause confusion and arguments, therefore holdups , at tills.

I wonder if you have read any of the thread.

There are lists of the exceptions, or links to government webpages, in more than ten posts on this thread.

Not sure this will lead to confusions, as the listed exceptions are situations where the retailer doesn't have to charge for a bag.

If a retailer has any sense, he will charge for all bags - there is nothing in the legislation to stop that - thus avoiding the confusion.

System

Regarding the raw meat.

It's not very clear on does it just cover meat purchased at a butchers or anyone buying any raw meat, including fresh and frozen packed meat in supermarkets? As I have bought raw meat from supermarkets before and it leaked.

wealdroam

ScarletMarble wrote: »

Regarding the raw meat.

It's not very clear on does it just cover meat purchased at a butchers or anyone buying any raw meat, including fresh and frozen packed meat in supermarkets? As I have bought raw meat from supermarkets before and it leaked.

Seems pretty clear to me.

The exemptions listed and linked to earlier state:

You don’t charge for plastic bags that are:

for uncooked fish and fish products
for uncooked meat, poultry and their products
for unwrapped food for animal or human consumption - for example, chips, or food sold in containers not secure enough to prevent leakage during normal handling

Which bit of that are you having trouble with?

Azari

wealdroam wrote: »

Seems pretty clear to me.

The exemptions listed and linked to earlier state:

Which bit of that are you having trouble with?

It's going to be a problem knowing which plastic bag they are talking about, though.

At a small supermarket I occasionally use in London, if you buy meat, it's put in a plastic bag, twisted and sealed, that is put in another plastic bag, twisted and sealed, and price tagged. You then take it to pay where they will put it in a normal carrier.

How many bags should you be charged for, none, one, or two?

I think the exemptions are the things that are likely to cause confusion.

For the rest, it will just be a few days of mild irritation while everyone gets used to it, then business as normal (apart from charging for the bags ).

wealdroam

Azari wrote: »

It's going to be a problem knowing which plastic bag they are talking about, though.

At a small supermarket I occasionally use in London, if you buy meat, it's put in a plastic bag, twisted and sealed, that is put in another plastic bag, twisted and sealed, and price tagged. You then take it to pay where they will put it in a normal carrier.

How many bags should you be charged for, none, one, or two?

I think the exemptions are the things that are likely to cause confusion.

For the rest, it will just be a few days of mild irritation while everyone gets used to it, then business as normal (apart from charging for the bags ).

One needs to refer again to the government's guidelines.

In my opinion the answer to your question is either one or none.

I used this part of the guidelines to arrive at that answer:

Bags you charge for

A bag is considered as such if it has an opening and isn’t sealed. You must charge at least 5p a bag for carrier bags that are all of the following:

unused - it’s new and hasn’t been used previously for sold goods to be taken away or delivered
plastic
with handles
70 microns thick or less

There is only one of the bags you mention that fit the chargeable criteria, and even that bag will be exempt if the inner two bags are considered 'containers not secure enough to prevent leakage during normal handling'.

Azari

wealdroam wrote: »

One needs to refer again to the government's guidelines.

In my opinion the answer to your question is either one or none.

I used this part of the guidelines to arrive at that answer:

There is only one of the bags you mention that fit the chargeable criteria, and even that bag will be exempt if the inner two bags are considered 'containers not secure enough to prevent leakage during normal handling'.

You've rather proved my point.

That's a lot of working out and explaining to by shop staff who probably have little interest in the nitty-gritty of the exemptions and are unlikely to have guideline to hand.