MoneySaving Poll: Do you agree with the 5p charge for carrier bags?

pavlovs_dog

I am in Wales and heartily support the bag levy. A nominal charge has proven instrumental in helping to change both attitudes AND habits. For the vast majority of us, 5p is an inconsequential sum and yet sufficient enough to make people kick themselves when they forget to bring their own bag. People now think twice about whether they truly need a bag in these instances, and many make do without. The BBC have reported a 71% decrease in the number of single use bags issued in Wales since 2011. 5p may not seem like much, but the statistics suggest that it is sufficient to make people think twice.

Local supermarkets (particularly the deep discounters) are usually pretty good at leaving a supply of boxes near the tills for people for use. If yours doesn't, make your feelings felt. A lot of companies have to pay to have their waste and recycling collected, so making boxes available to customers may actually save them money.

re: bags for life - my local foodbank gratefully accepts these to package up emergency food parcels. Maybe yours does too. Smaller, more independent chains of charity shop are often happy to reuse your bags in their shops too.


The bag levy change alone will not save the environment, however it is a baby step in the right direction. Small changes cumulatively over time become embedded habits. I'd like to see a big push towards reduced packaging so that people have less rubbish/recycling to put in in the first place.

Elguajiro

Aldi and Lidl already charge for bags and have done for a long time, so will the money they take when it changes go to a charity? I think not, but may be wrong

judexx

I'm totally in favour of the 5p charge for plastic carrier bags but don't understand why (at least according to Tescos) it also applies to the strong brown paper carrier bags ?
Surely they don't have the same environmental impact ? :huh:

Kim_kim

It fine for food shopping.

Not sure it's a great idea for clothing & other items.
Sometimes you just pop out during your lunch break & something when you didn't plan on shopping.

Nick_C

Retailers are expected to give the net proceeds to good causes. They are not legally required to do so, but the adverse publicity that would result from pocketing the profits is likely to deter most retailers from attempting this.

The biggest single beneficiary is likely to be the Treasury. In most cases, the 5p charge will include VAT of 0.83p which I estimate will raise at least £15 million in VAT in England. Of the remaining 4.17p, administration costs can be deducted when working out the amount to be given "voluntarily" to good causes.

I disagree with the claimed environmental benefits. Like most other people who take free bags from supermarkets, I am going to have to start buying bin liners. Which also attract VAT. So the government makes money from this twice over.

melanzana

The irony is, one can buy a roll of pedal bin liners. What is the cost, maybe a pound or so for 50?

I just pick up a roll of them and fill my shopping, and then take the rest home to be re used again!

So much for saving the environment or whatever they call the tax now!

jon81uk

tgroom57 wrote: »

I'm in Wales. The 5p charge has been counterproductive in our household and dramatically increased the number of non-degradeable plastic bags we throw away.

Before the charge we would get a 2 or 3 biodegradable plastic bags each week, thin flimsy things which I recycled using for rubbish bags. Critically, they had easy tie handles. I never bought bin liners.

Since the 5p charge, Tesco have upped their game. My daughter gets the stronger 10p bag-for-life which does not biodegrade, has no-tie handles and are now stacking up in my cupboard & the boot of her car. And I have no good bags for rubbish My other daughter is a fashionista who has to have the latest bag every time she sees a new print.

The environment is not winning this game.

As far as I understand it you have the option to get the 5p single use bag or the 10p bag for life. If you prefer the single-use bags as you use them for rubbish bags, then just get (or make your daughter get) the 5p bags. Or instead of leaving the bag for life in the cupboard, re-use them saving you 10p every time you shop. Before you know it you will have saved enough to buy bin-liners!

jon81uk

judexx wrote: »

I'm totally in favour of the 5p charge for plastic carrier bags but don't understand why (at least according to Tescos) it also applies to the strong brown paper carrier bags ?
Surely they don't have the same environmental impact ? :huh:

Look at how many takeaway bags get littered from people who go to the drive through and then throw their rubbish out the car window. That is why it applies to paper bags, they are still litter if not disposed of correctly.

jon81uk

Elguajiro wrote: »

Aldi and Lidl already charge for bags and have done for a long time, so will the money they take when it changes go to a charity? I think not, but may be wrong

Aldi give the profit from bags to the RSPB https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/about-aldi/useful-information/aldi-and-the-rspb/

sgun

tgroom57 wrote: »

I'm in Wales. The 5p charge has been counterproductive in our household and dramatically increased the number of non-degradeable plastic bags we throw away.

Before the charge we would get a 2 or 3 biodegradable plastic bags each week, thin flimsy things which I recycled using for rubbish bags. Critically, they had easy tie handles. I never bought bin liners.

Since the 5p charge, Tesco have upped their game. My daughter gets the stronger 10p bag-for-life which does not biodegrade, has no-tie handles and are now stacking up in my cupboard & the boot of her car. And I have no good bags for rubbish My other daughter is a fashionista who has to have the latest bag every time she sees a new print.

The environment is not winning this game.

WHAT???

How lazy can you be to just not take some bags to the car when you go shopping. You do know that you can RE-USE them don't you?

Biodegradable bags rarely break down in landfill as they need aerobic conditions which most landfills don't provide.

By far the best environmental solution is to invest in some cotton bags, made from renewable resources and use those. I have some that have lasted 20 years and are still going strong.

And I use old bread bags as bin lines as they would be thrown out anyway.