Plastic bag charge to double to 10p and apply in ALL shops - MSE News 27 December 2018 at 1:25PM in Food shopping & groceries 48 replies 7.3K views

Former_MSE_Naomi

The Government has announced plans to increase the minimum 5p charge for buying a plastic bag in England to 10p and extend it to all retailers, in a bid to cut plastic use...

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'Plastic bag charge to double to 10p and apply in ALL shops'

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Norman_Castle

Make them £1. If the bags have some value they will be valued.

maman

I don't have a problem with the increase in price. I'm amazed at how many people don't take bags with them and buy new every time.

What I don't like is the instruction to schools to stop single use plastics. That's easy for things like straws but the government needs to focus on suppliers for packaging.

Unfortunately this government finds it hard to upset business.

madvicker

Just ban them outright. If Rwanda and Kenya can do it, the UK definitely can.

[Deleted User]

We happily have a go at retailers for using plastic bags yet councils insist that rubbish is placed in black plastic bags for the bin men.I recycle 98% of stuff in my house via the recycling bag and the other 2% goes into a biodegradable food bag in the food bin or wrapped in newspaper. Driving my grandson to work yesterday the amount of piles of black plastic bags piled up by the roadside awaiting the bin men was amazing When I was a little girl the bin men emptied the bins and there was next to no plastic in them.But then in the 1940s-50s recycling was unheard of as we reused as much as possible beck then I can remember my Mums net shopping bag which went everywhere with her in the bottom of her handbag as you never knew what shop may have supplies in and queueing was almost a national sport. Nothing if possible was ever wasted even some of the ashes from the fire went onto the garden at times as fertiliser. eggs shells were crushed and used in the garden as well. So many shotages made for extreme shopping and frugality with supplies Perhaps after 29th March next year we may see the return of make do and mend f supplies run short again.
The stuff I really dislike is the polystyrene trays that splinter and break up I think they will last in landfill until the next millennium and gone

Lewie

This scheme is absolute nonsense.
Single use plastic bags are insignificant compared with the unnecessary packaging that manufacturers use.
For example, there is no excuse, apart from presentation, to put apples in a polystyrene base, cover them with a hard plastic case and then encase that lot in a plastic bag.
As usual, the powers that be take the route that will see least resistance.
The public listen to the baloney and are sucked in.
The charge has seen a great reduction in the use of single use plastic bags but the sale of 'reusable' plastic bags has increased.
These bags are obviously heavier duty than the single use bags.
It takes more energy to make them.
They take much longer to 'break down'.
They need to be used at least 4 times to be comparable to single use bags.
Many people use single use bags at home as bin liners, dog pooh bags etc.
They are now buying bin liners and dog pooh bags to make up for the loss of the single use bags, which, of course, means more plastic!
When we see the figures banded about claiming how successful such a scheme is, let's see the real picture.
Show the negatives too and stop trying to guilt trip folk.

Wizard_of_Id

10p is not enough to deter folk from throwing them away.

FestiveJoy

Wizard_of_Id wrote: »

10p is not enough to deter folk from throwing them away.

Agreed.

If Gove is really serious on reducing single use plastic bags and doing "even more to protect our precious planet", then he should set the minimum price as £10 not 10p.

That "will accelerate further behaviour change"

:xmassign:

maman

maman wrote: »

What I don't like is the instruction to schools to stop single use plastics. That's easy for things like straws but the government needs to focus on suppliers for packaging.

Unfortunately this government finds it hard to upset business.

FestiveJoy wrote: »

Agreed.

If Gove is really serious on reducing single use plastic bags and doing "even more to protect our precious planet", then he should set the minimum price as £10 not 10p.

That "will accelerate further behaviour change"

:xmassign:

All Gove is really serious about is promoting and advancing Gove.

Farway

maman wrote: »

All Gove is really serious about is promoting and advancing Gove.

Surely not? He's one of the most trustworthy people in parliament:D

Pollycat

So what's going to happen to the currently-priced 10p bag-for-life?