WAG Lowers Compulsory Bag Charge

2 November 2010

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has decided to lower the compulsory carrier bag charge, due to be introduced in October 2011, from 7p to 5p.

The 7p charge it initially planned would have made single use carrier bags 2p more expensive than some bags-for-life. The announcement follows “unintended but inevitable consequence” highlighted by The British Retail Consortium (BRC) that there would have been “a massive increase in the number of customers taking the thicker, heavier bags-for-life but treating them as single-use bags rather than re-using them. This would be bad news for the environment because each bag-for-life contains up to eight times as much material as a single-use carrier bag.”

The BRC successfully lobbied the WAG to set the price of single use carrier bags at 5p. However, while the BRC shares WAG’s aim to reduce bag use, it remains steadfastly opposed to compulsory bag charges. It believes the best way to achieve lasting change is to allow retailers to adopt schemes that they judge will work best with their own customers. This approach has already reportedly seen Welsh retailers and customers reduce bag use by 50 percent since 2006.

Bob Gordon, British Retail Consortium Head of Environment said: “You can’t shift consumer behavior simply by legislating on charges. As we’ve always said, the key to reducing the environmental impact of carrier bags is education and persuasion rather then financial penalties. Welsh retailers have already achieved a 50 percent reduction in bag use since 2006 by encouraging customers to reuse their bags. We’re confident that trend would continue without the introduction of a compulsory national carrier-bag charge.”

The BRC welcomed the WAG’s decision to delay the introduction of the compulsory carrier bag charge from April to October 2011. This will give retailers much needed time to implement the scheme.

Gemma Howard