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Bill to force London shopping bag charge dropped
London Councils has dropped its bid to force retailers in the capital to charge for shopping bags following government assurances that it was acting to reduce their use.
The policy thinktank today withdrew its London Shopping Bag Bill from parliament after a letter from environment minister Jane Kennedy said that the government would introduce charges itself should retailers not cut their use of bags.
A compulsory charge for retailers on bags was mooted recently as the government and the Waste Resources Action Programme reported on progress on the Courtauld Commitment.
Most major supermarkets and a number of high-street shops have since taken plastic bags off the counter, forcing shoppers to ask for them, although most have stopped short of introducing a charge.
In a statement this morning, London Councils chairman Merrick Cockell said that the organisation accepted that the government’s amendments to the Climate Change Bill allowing it to impose a charge on shopping bags "could bring about our desired reduction in the number of single use shopping bags given out".
He said: "We are accepting the government at its word, and fully expect them to take action against retailers should they fail to reduce numbers voluntarily. The government must never forget the depth of public feeling on this issue. We will continue to hold them to account should they fail to deliver on their promise."
The London Shopping Bag Bill was first deposited at Westminster in November 2007 following a survey in which 90% of Londoners were found to support action to reduce the number of shopping bags given out.
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Comments
Neil Young - 26 November 2008
At last some common sense prevails. Banning or reducing plastic bags is proven to have disastrous effects on the environment as alternative products have a far greater carbon footprint and do far greater damage to the environment than the ubiquitous plastic carrier bag. Scotland arrived at this decision over two years ago, Norway and other countries have followed our lead and now London has arrived at an intelligent decision.
Understand the facts and ensure you ignore political fluffy rhetoric which would lead you believe that plastic bags are evil. They are simply the most efficient use of resources available to carry retail purchases home and, if intelligently reused and eventually recycled will provide huge benefits for the world.
It is people who litter our streets and it is they who should be reminded of their duty to dispose of their waste intelligently and responsibly.
James Smith - 26 November 2008
Hear hear, Neil - couldn't agree more
Jennie Sutton - 26 November 2008
Nonsense! Alternative products such as multiple use shopping bags that you can use over & over are damaging!? And, that is the very problem ~ there is no intelligent re-use. If there was we wouldn't be still considering this problem. People do not re-use these plastic bags.
If a value (cost) is placed on the plastic bag then perhaps people might think twice about throwing them away after single use. Too many people 'forget' their obligations. If we can't get this right what hope is there for us all.
If you believe that to use a bag for, on average, 12 minutes before it goes in the bin, is 'common sense' then I suggest you must be working to promote plastic bags.
James Smith - 28 November 2008
In my view, no-one is saying that we should wantonly use virgin resources or that we should use as many plastic bags as possible. However, banning shops from giving out plastic bags for free leads to all sorts of problems - not least, as the Irish experience shows, an increased instance of shoplifting and the increased use of bags made from much heavier plastic, risking actually increasing the amount of plastic bags used.
As with all these things, people use plastic bags because they are fit for purpose. They are also very lightweight, and certainly far more so than the alternatives.
Still, Jennie, if you are disciplined enough to never need a plastic carrier bag, good for you. I just hope you also don't use a car, aeroplanes, read newspapers, eat beefburgers or any other of the million things we all do every day that in some way use the world's resources.
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