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

Nick_C

wealdroam wrote: »

I don't think the legislation is quite so certain.

The Government's guidelines, which have been linked to many times on this thread, state:

As far as I can see the legislation itself is silent on the issue.

wealdroam

Nick_C wrote: »

As far as I can see the legislation itself is silent on the issue.

I suspected as much. Thanks.

The-Truth

Nick_C wrote: »

As far as I can see the legislation itself is silent on the issue.

But it makes it perfectly clear what is expected to happen.

wealdroam

The-Truth wrote: »

But it makes it perfectly clear what is expected to happen.

The legislation doesn't. Just the guidelines.

It's still a bit strong to state "the money has to go to charity!"

Nick_C

The-Truth wrote: »

But it makes it perfectly clear what is expected to happen.

Read the legislation. It says nothing about what should happen to the net proceeds.

Note also, even if a retailer gives the money to charity, it won't be 5p. The VAT will go to the government and the retailer can deduct admin costs.

And the guidance doesn't say "charities". It says "good causes". Not necessarily the same thing!

The retailer is selling you a carrier bag for 5p, including VAT. They pass the VAT to the government but are free to do what they like with the rest. It's the retailers' money.

The-Truth

Nick_C wrote: »

Read the legislation. It says nothing about what should happen to the net proceeds.

Note also, even if a retailer gives the money to charity, it won't be 5p. The VAT will go to the government and the retailer can deduct admin costs.

And the guidance doesn't say "charities". It says "good causes". Not necessarily the same thing!

The retailer is selling you a carrier bag for 5p, including VAT. They pass the VAT to the government but are free to do what they like with the rest. It's the retailers' money.

That's just cynical guesswork!

Nick_C

The-Truth wrote: »

That's just cynical guesswork!

Not guesswork at all. No speculation. Just facts. The truth!

System

Complete with audited records going to DEFRA and available to the public about how the collected income was broken down and who it was paid to.

So No the retailer can not do what they like with the money. It must be dealt with as per the regulations and will be checked and action taken if they do not follow the regulations.

Rotti

I don't have too much of an issue paying for a bag as long as it is decent quality and at least makes it from the checkout to the car and then into the house without ripping. If the supermarkets are going to charge then they have to make the bags worth the money and a little more durable. We re-use all our plastic bags for what's left of our weekly rubbish after recycling and other uses so will not be using less plastic, just buying more pedal bin liners.
What is really annoying though is that they no longer give you the option of taking their cardboard boxes to use instead of bags and they are actually better than bags if you are a car shopper as they stay more stable in the boot. When you travel abroad the supermarkets make all the cardboard boxes including banana trays available at the checkout. They spend less recycling cardboard, boxes are easily re-used or recycled at home and there is no plastic anywhere in the equation. Go into any supermarket and you will see them trashing and flattening perfectly good, robust boxes and stacking them on a cage for recycling. Put them out for the customers to use!!! I used to collect up the wine boxes at Sainsburys, pack my shopping in them and use them for mailing my eBay sales - perfect size for a lot of things and under the airmail restriction. Then they decided the boxes were in the way and took them out so now I have several plastic bags each week which I am careful to re-use. They get carefully folded and put away to be used at a later date - provided they are not full of holes by the time they get home!
I will get into the habit of taking my canvas and hessian bags with me but will collect extra bags in the produce aisle to overwrap freezer and fridge items and meat as I don't want my bags ruined.

Helix

Rotti wrote: »

They spend less recycling cardboard, boxes are easily re-used or recycled at home and there is no plastic anywhere in the equation. Go into any supermarket and you will see them trashing and flattening perfectly good, robust boxes and stacking them on a cage for recycling. Put them out for the customers to use!!!

They actually get paid for the cardboard, so they make more money by recycling it than giving it away to customers.