Focus on bags fails to deal with real issues, says PAFA

Last month, London Councils completed its consultation on introducing a tax on bags and Brighton said it wanted to be the first city in Britain to ban carrier bags.

However, Brighton and Hove Council has no legal standing to effect an outright ban, and instead aims to “support and encourage” retailers, businesses and commercial manufacturers to eliminate “excessive packaging, in particular plastic bags”.

Tesco said it was better to “encourage rather than coerce” customers towards greener consumption.

“As Defra acknowledges, and the Irish experience bears out, if you simply tax plastic bags or ban them, sales of things like bin liners, which are far worse for the environment, tend to soar,” said a spokesman.

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