Isra-Mart srl: Defra prepares to legislate as plastic bag use booms

www.isra-mart.com
Defra is planning to crack down on retailers handing out plastic carrier bags to customers, after new figures revealed that a voluntary commitment by supermarkets to cut the number of bags they distribute has stalled.

Figures released by the government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) today reveal a five per cent national increase in the number of single-use carrier bags handed out in supermarkets in 2010 compared to 2009/2010.

However, indicative national figures showed a decline in the number of bags handed out in Northern Ireland and Wales, the two countries which have legislated to cut carrier bag use. In contrast, bag use has risen in England and Scotland where no such legislation is in place.

Between 2009/2010, Northern Ireland saw bag use drop 14 per cent, while Wales saw the number of bags handed out decrease by seven per cent. However, bag use in Scotland and England rose by nine per cent and seven per cent respectively.

Recycling minister Lord Henley slammed supermarkets for failing to take responsibility for cutting bag use, and said that the government is now considering forcing retailers to act.

"This isn't good enough," he said. "Retailers need to take responsibility and lift their game to cut down on the number of single-use carrier bags they hand out. If results do not improve we will consider additional measures to make this happen, including legislation."

In 2008, the UK government, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and leading supermarkets agreed to a voluntary approach to cut the number of single-use bags by 50 per cent by spring 2009.

In May 2009, when the formal agreement ended, WRAP reported that retailers had cut the number of single-use bags by 48 per cent.

However, while there is an agreement to provide figures to WRAP on an annual basis, there no current sector target for carrier bag use in place.

Responding to the figures today, the BRC blamed the increase on rising sales and changing shopper habits.

BRC head of environment Bob Gordon argued that the voluntary scheme had been a success, and described the latest figures as "encouraging", given the context of rising sales and changing shopping habits.

"These figures show that retailers and customers are changing their habits without the need for compulsory bag bans or charges," he said.

"In the face of sales growth it was inevitable that year-on-year reductions would be hard to maintain, and the overall numbers remain the sort of result other environmental campaigns can only dream of."

Gordon added that reducing carrier bags is just one element of retailers' overall efforts to reduce their environmental impact.

"Retailers, working with consumers, will continue to do all they can to drive down the number of carrier bags being given out wherever possible, but it's time to accept that bags are not the be all and end all of environmental issues," he said.

"An obsession with carrier bags must not get in the way of these bigger green goals."

However, a spokeswoman from Defra dismissed the excuses, arguing that the rise in bag use is unacceptable.

She said that ministers are now looking closely at the policy of charging shoppers in Wales for carrier bags, and is also examining the results of initiatives in other countries.

"We're not going to wait for the results of Wales' policy, or for the EU consultation [considering banning plastic bags] to finish. The figures are already there and carrier bag use has to come down," she said.

The results will also further fuel recent criticism from green groups of the government's Waste Review, which proposes wider use of voluntary agreements with industry to tackle waste levels.