CBC blasts Daily Mail on plastic bags ahead of Budget

The Daily Mail said that tomorrow's (12 March) Budget would include a timetable to cut carrier bag usage, which it described as a "powerful message" to supermarkets resisting pressure to charge for bags.

It reported that the Climate Change Bill would be adapted to introduce obligatory charging for carrier bags if reduction targets were not met.

But CBC spokesman Peter Woodall said that retailers were already "serious in their efforts" to achieve reduction targets, which were "broadly on track" according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme.

"The paper has missed that we've had a voluntary scheme [to reduce bag use] in place for over a year," he said.

Woodall added that the government needed to better "inform and educate" about how to get the most out of materials rather than taking the easy route of taxation.

"The government should launch a major campaign to tell consumers about their environmental impact.

"A single car journey to the supermarket averages 12 miles, which is the equivalent of a year's supply of bags, yet we see less [complaining] about four-wheel drive cars [than plastic bags]," he said.

Popular Articles