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Packaging News readers have predicted that government will legislate to reduce plastic bag use by retailers.

Writing on this week's Soap Box forum on the increasing number of stores charging for plastic bags or taking them off checkouts, Danjim Marketing said it believed that voluntary action by retailers to reduce plastic bag use was now too late.

"Whilst retailers are now taking the bags off the checkout, some charging a fee, many replacing with recycled materials, it is too little too late. The government and lobbyists have the industry in a corner," the company wrote. "If we the initiatives that are being taken now by retailers had been introduced 18 months ago, the story would be different."

Danjim's prediction came a month after waste minister Joan Ruddock gave retailers until the spring to cut their plastic bag use by 70% or face new laws.

Other readers were less than impressed by the continued government focus on plastic bags. One reader, Pallet Girl, described the recent spate of announcement from retailers on their reduction efforts "a complete over-reaction".

She wrote: "Everyone I know re-uses plastic bags whether it be for carrying their lunch to work or to line their bins. If anything, the retailers should look at their home delivery services. I often have home delivery and frequently have one item per bag!"

Another reader, James Smith, argued that reducing plastic bag use is "not going to make any difference at all" to reducing shoppers' carbon footprint.

"In a world without plastic bags, which the government seems to want, first we'll all start using more plastic bin bags and second we'll all often forget to bring our bags for life, so we'll end up paying over the odds for plastic bags that we use only once or twice," he said.

Finally, reader Julie Elliott cited the example of Ireland, where shoppers have to pay tax on plastic bags. "The Irish plastic bag tax created more problems when it was introduced in 2002, including a 1000% increase in the consumption of bin liners and a rise in shoplifting," she said.

To join the Soap Box debate and air your views on plastic bag, click here.