Plastic bag charge to double to 10p and apply in ALL shops - MSE News

A._Badger

Lewie wrote: »

The public listen to the baloney and are sucked in.
.

You won't convince them. Yes, It's gesture politics from a cynical government who, quite correctly, judge that gestures are good enough to placate those for whom Strictly Come Dancing stretches the limits of their critical thinking.

Why, follow your sort of thinking and something sensible might be done and we couldn't have that, could we?

tghe-retford

A._Badger wrote: »

You won't convince them. Yes, It's gesture politics from a cynical government who, quite correctly, judge that gestures are good enough to placate those for whom Strictly Come Dancing stretches the limits of their critical thinking.

Why, follow your sort of thinking and something sensible might be done and we couldn't have that, could we?

88-95% of plastic waste (or debris) in the ocean (the waste that is used to create an emotional argument to ban plastic bags and wage war on convenience items) comes from just ten rivers according to a scientific paper from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368

Eight of them in Asia and two of them in Africa.

Norman_Castle

tghe-retford wrote: »

88-95% of plastic waste (or debris) in the ocean (the waste that is used to create an emotional argument to ban plastic bags and wage war on convenience items) comes from just ten rivers according to a scientific paper from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368

Eight of them in Asia and two of them in Africa.

The Uk government introduced the charge mainly to reduce litter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge/carrier-bags-why-theres-a-5p-charge

A._Badger

tghe-retford wrote: »

88-95% of plastic waste (or debris) in the ocean (the waste that is used to create an emotional argument to ban plastic bags and wage war on convenience items) comes from just ten rivers according to a scientific paper from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368

Eight of them in Asia and two of them in Africa.

That's quite right. Meanwhile, and I quote: ''An Australian government study estimated their re-use rate to be as high as 75 percent. Consumers in jurisdictions with bans who reused LDPE grocery bags to line their household trash cans, pack lunches, or even pick up their dog’s poop most often have little choice but to purchase significantly higher-density plastic bags for these purposes.''

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/plastic-bag-straw-bans-ocean-pollution/

And further, a Scottish government report (a predictably feeble one, it has to be said), concluded that paper bags are even worse for the environment than LDPE. And don't even think about cotton, canvas or linen.

None of which counts for anything, however, because the public will clap like seals at a facile solution which achieves nothing so long as it 'feels right' - whatever the facts say. Heaven forbid that they should have to dig for the truth behind the pre-digested nonsense cooked-up by cynical politicians and a gullible media.

ic

What bothers me is how the fee applies only to the single use carrier bag. The stronger reusable bags don't get this charge - so most of the big stores have now moved to only stock these and charge more for them. As they're reusable, they keep the full profit from the bag and nothing goes to charity via the charge.

The charge should apply to all bag sales outright.

JCS1

Don't forget the bag charges include VAT, so HMRC are also taking a cut.

badmemory

Actually this change should be very MSE if people allow it to be. Make a decision that if you don't have bags - you don't shop a no spend day there - or you put things back in your trolley & pack from the trolley into the car. I now have a stock of re-usable bags & intend to never ever buy another one. Watch out though, they may say re-usable but they do eventually biodegrade & you could land up with your shopping all over the car park.

VT82

JCS1 wrote: »

Don't forget the bag charges include VAT, so HMRC are also taking a cut.

With the tax take handily doubling once the minimum price doubles, and more than doubling with the extension to smaller retailers.


How can people the who share Instagrams of their bamboo toothbrushes and paper straws really think they are making a difference, when the increase in consumption of disposable packaging from a single day's worth of consumer growth in China will more than outweigh any environmental benefits from a hardening of UK policy?? If ministers really want to save the planet, they need to tackle attitudes to waste in the countries that treat rivers as household waste bins.

Former_MSE_Naomi

Morrisons will next week double the price of a reusable plastic bag from 10p to 20p - and then start rolling out a new 20p paper bag to stores across the country...

Read the full story:
'Morrisons to double price of plastic bags to 20p - and offer paper bags too'

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

Paul_Herring

Our customers have told us that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern,

Did they now?

Compared to what other environmental concerns?
And where, in the total hierarchy of their concerns, does the environment fit in.

Either those questions weren't asked, or the answers weren't amenable to this obvious attempt at virtue signalling by the company.