Billions fewer plastic bags handed out
Shops' cutbacks could stave off government plan to charge for carriers
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Ecology-minded customers line up to fill their newly purchased 'I'm Not a Plastic Bag' carriers by Anya Hindmarch at a supermarket in New York
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Shops gave out 3.5 billion fewer plastic bags last year under a voluntary scheme which has, for now, headed off the threat of a government ban on free carrier bags. Figures from Wrap, the Government's anti-waste body, show that the number of plastic bags dispensed fell from 13.4 billion in 2007 to 9.9 billion last year, a drop of 26 per cent.
Wrap said that when taking into account increased recycled content in the bags, the use of virgin materials in the bags had been slashed by 40 per cent, well above the 25 per cent target set in 2007. Supermarkets have now agreed a target of reducing the number of bags by 50 per cent – from 2006 levels – by May. But the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), while welcoming the new figures, warned that it would retain the option of introducing a charge for bags if stores failed to honour their commitments.
Environmental campaigners lambaste plastic bags as one of the worst excesses of consumerism. The bags waste resources and end up in landfill, scattered across the countryside or swirling round the seas, where they choke and kill marine life, particularly turtles. Several countries have banned the bags, including Rwanda, Bhutan, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Zanzibar and Botswana.
In the UK, 21 leading supermarkets and high street chains agreed in February 2007 to cut bag waste by 25 per cent. Britain's biggest retailer, Tesco, introduced loyalty points for customers reusing bags, helping slash the number of bags by two billion, and other stores such as Sainsbury's have moved bags from the bagging area, putting the onus on customers to request them. As a result, shoppers have become more used to reusing carrier bags or buying sturdier, long-lasting alternatives such as jute bags. "Consumers deserve congratulations for these results as they clearly show we are moving away from using bags once to re-using bags often," said Liz Goodwin, Wrap's chief executive. "They are also a credit to retailers who have worked hard to find innovative ways of helping us reuse our bags."
The British Retail Consortium urged customers to help stores by remembering to take stronger "bags for life" on shopping trips and, when they had to take them, reusing lighter carriers on five or six shopping trips before returning them for recycling.
The Environment minister, Jane Kennedy, said the "great progress" made showed that the national reliance on carrier bags was diminishing: "It also puts retailers well on the way to meeting the ambitious 50 per cent reduction in the number of carrier bags that they have pledged to reach by the end of May this year."
Later, Defra confirmed that it had not abandoned the threat of a ban on free plastic bags. "The powers are there in the Climate Change Act to introduce a charge, but, particularly in the current climate, we don't believe introducing a charge would be the right option," a spokeswoman said. "It would be a significant burden for retailers. But that's not to say we have abandoned the possibility of introducing a charge; at the moment, the voluntary approach seems to be working."
Cotton and jute: The alternatives to plastic
Cotton and jute bags have become fashionable as shoppers seek to replace plastic carriers with more eco-friendly alternatives. Sales of jute bags alone increased from around 100,000 in 2006 to 7.4 million last year, according to Wrap. The most famous "eco-bag" is the Anya Hindmarch "I'm not a plastic bag" bag, constructed from reusable cotton. Superdrug's £2.99 cotton shopper, released for the 30th anniversary of the Prince's Trust, caught the headlines when Kate Moss was pictured carrying one, while Tesco and Sainsbury's have also released green bags. Stronger "bags for life", intended to be re-used several times, are sold by supermarkets, while many swisher stores are dispensing paper bags with the implication that they are more eco-friendly.
So which bag is the least harmful? "A very difficult question to answer," replied Richard Swannell, Wrap's director of retail programmes. "The best thing you can do to help the environment is to re-use your bag. If you buy a bag for life and then don't re-use it that is a disaster for the environment."
9.9bn
The number of plastic bags dispensed last year, down from 13.4bn in 2007.
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http://wales.gov.uk/news/latest/294
Do they not count because they're not English? Or is the Independent simply too dependent on re-writing press releases and Wikipedia entries to bother doing ANY BACKGROUND RESEARCH at all? God, get some more/better staff. The fraying is starting to show.
Get your facts straight and stop being so nationalistic - and do not forget it's British taxpayers money via the EU that have subsidised Ireland's economy for decades. Again I say, look at the facts matey. Perhaps Irelands can pay the money back eh - the that could subsidise green measures in the UK? I would say severl trillion should do it...
Far from British taxpayers subsidising Ireland, you lot got the benefits of Irish labour at cheap rates for decades - Irish, Carribean and Asian people built your motorways, staffed your hospitals and provided much of your public services.
The binbag argument, like everything else you say, is not only incorrect, it's also irrelevant.
Fortunately most British people I know have left the Little Englander mentality behind them; maybe you should get out more often
Snd your argument that just because Irishmen were navvies in the UK that now gives the Irish the right to steal British money viz the EU is pathetic. The UK gave Irish peasants jobs - and the ones exploited were exploited by Irish gangmasters actually.
As usual ths mad Oirish do it again... Look at some facts - the plastic bag issue is a nonsense - a PR exercise - and has no net benefit. Perhaps if the Irish hadn't bred so much in the past there'd be fewer people in the world and that would be very environmentally friendly.
Let's start with the facts. The Irish don't go around with binbags. Like the French, the Germans and most other Europeans, including many sensible Brits, they have bags which can be recycled, or at the least they use the same plastic bag until it falls apart. The fact is that there has been a massive fall in the number of plastic bags in circulation and you don't see them in hedgerows and ditches anymore. For anyone who is not a shareholder in a plastic bag company, that has to be good.
As for your anti-Irish ravings, get over it. You're not running the show any more. And nobody is stealing your money.
Personally, despite being relatively young I have always been very economical and reuse bags and much else. Also, I do not buy into junk-buying consumer culture as so many do. And I never waste food. My wartime parents made me think like that, and it make me laugh because what I have always done is now being promoted as 'green living'. All those baby boomers created a throw-away society - but consumerism and overpopulation and the real elephant in the room, not plastic bags.
The fact is also that you have a very twisted view of history - get over it eh - you're not a bogtrotter peatcutter nopw and nor are you building british roads. How much money has Ireland got from the EU again? Do you even know? Shame you have no plastic bags in Ireland anymore - I won't be able to put one over your head when I visit you now...
I'm glad you are not into the junk-buying culture and waste; pity others don't take a leaf out of your book in that regard, if not in others.
'Bogtrotter peatcutter'!! I suppose it was easier for racists like you to deal with the Irish when they could be written off as 'bogtrotters'. Well I come from a perfectly respectable line of bogtrotters and I'm proud of them.
There is no British Empire nowadays and thank God for that. The European Union offers the UK an honorable and ethical role in the world, a world in which Britain's role is nowadays a minor one. Better that, than slaughtering innocent Iraqis and others in their tens and tens of thousands.
I have no idea what point you're trying to make by saying you're an academic. That you're brainy, I suppose... (but not brainy enough to do a basic search for research and sales figures proving my points - I'm not doing your homework for you laddie). I used to be an academic and lecturer too and found most of my colleagues to be utterly tedious unimaginative careerist sheep and the acdemic system shot to shiit and all just a business with nothing really to do with education. Now I run my business and am a published author. So there.
Oh I'm a racist now am I? Typical accusation of a loser moron. I suippose you'll be calling me a nazi next. Yawn. You lose the argument. And I know all about Goebels sayings thank you - in fact, I've written several articles about the nazis. So there. No need to talk down to your intellectual superiors teachie boy
Read your comments on the British - I think most will see you as the real bigot. I was pointing our your out-of-date victim culture Irish mentality in my comments. You are just being a bigot Brit-hater in yours. I suppose you supported the IRA too like lots of idiot twerp academics. Yawn again.
Do some research on the sales of binbags in Ireland after the ban on plastic bags and you'll see I am right - or don't and stay wallowing in ignorance. I don't care either way.
And as I said: Overpopulation is THE only real environmental issue that causes all the rest - but no-one has the guts to tackle it or even mention it - except me of course. I agree with James Lovelock - there's only be a few million humans left in 100 years. Why? Here's a clue Paddy Macaroni - it ain't plastic bags. OK?
Anyone reading these postings would appreciate that the real bigotry is on your side. And of course you are a coward, that is self-evident, but so are most bigots.
You seem to have an unhealthy preoccupation with procreation: maybe you have problems in that department. I hope that when you are old there is some fool out there willing to look after you.
First, the irish are not a race (buy a dictionary you illiterate); second, you clearly have issues about the British (did you know how many Irish supported the nazis, including your president - because you have a dewy-eyed sentimental dishonest view of your identity and history); third, my point about binbag sales going up after Ireland banned plastic bags is true - do some research dimwit; fourth, it is not unhealthy to see that overpopulation is THE only green problem - it is a fact herd-mentality mediocrities like you cannot see or do not want to; fifth, you show your true fascistic colours with your final insult (big fan of De Valera are you? Yes, the Irish president was the ONLY world leader to sign a book of condolence when Hitler died in 1945.) Sorry, but we don't buy this Guinness-advert Oirishness any more - not after seeing Irish terrorism and meeting anti-British closet nazis like you.
Now go away and grow up, Macaroni-brain.
You keep repeating your ridiculous point about binbags without ever referring to the facts; but then facts are inconvenient when they get in the way of a good argument.
Unfortunately your knowledge of Irish history is right up there with your expertise in binbags. De Valera wasn't 'Irish president' when he signed that book. And although I'm not a fan of De Valera, he wasn't a fascist. If you knew anything about history except how to use it inaccurately to throw insults at people, you'd also know that there were very few fascists in Ireland (or in Britain) during WW2, but a lot of Irish from all parts of this island fought in the British and other Allied forces.
I don't think we need lessons in history from someone who is clearly stuck in the past while actually knowing little or nothing about it.
And actually a lot of Irish fought for Britain but a great many also supported the Nazis and Hitler (U boats refueled in Ireland of course and hid off Ireland's coast with Irish blessing before sinking Allied ships). YOu may want to keep you treachery quiet and spout your lies, but some of us know REAL history - not the kind of leftie lies you spout.
Yes, you never let facts get in the way of you dumb argument. Fact: the sale of binbags rocketd in Ireland after plastic bags were banned. Fact: over-population is THE ONLY green issue - banning plastic bags achieves precisely nothing for the environment, it just makes prats like you feel smug. Twerp.
Gosh I really wish your dad had worn a condom.... Oh no, but there were banned in Ireland werent they, so papists could rule the world. Failed again then eh. Still you've got another nazi as a pope, so you'll be happy then Macaroni man.
There were, of course, no refuellings of Uboats in Ireland - that canard has long since been disproven. _Every_ German spy sent to Ireland, with just one exception, was captured and interned. Ireland cooperated in a host of ways with the Allies behind the scenes. All of these points have been established by eminent historians, both British and Irish.
I am an agnostic myself and thus have no religion but I'm not surprised in your case to see that your racism is equalled by your sectarianism.
You've rather got off the point about binbags, haven't you? But then your sort is never very good at sticking to an argument when the facts disprove you.
Have a nice weekend. Don't get too close to the burning cross after your and your hooded friends light it.
For the benefit of the OP - I'm an Englishman living in Dublin and regularly traveling between Ireland and the UK. Yes, Ireland is all but invisible in the British media. The lack of carrier bags in Dublin has resulted directly in most people taking their own reusable bags. It's a good thing. Combined with the excellent plastic recycling that is now operational Ireland really is leading the way for its neighbour in ecological awareness.
As a comparison - in the UK we recycled as much as we could. But without plastic recycling facilities we still filled a black bin bag every fortnight. In Dublin we haven't thrown any rubbish out in a month. 100% of our waste has gone either in the green bags for recycling or into food disposal.
Well done to us the consumers for doing one small thing to help save our planet.
The best thing would be 1) for people to stop buying crap they don't need (especially women who on average own 100 pairs of shoes and never really cut back); and 2) for people to STOP BREEDING - that is THE ONLY green issue, and over-population is killing the world. Of course, most people wany kids so the issue is never addressed.
Any childless peron in much greener than any breeder who trots down the street with her green credentials advertised on her shopping bag. What UTTER stupidity and hypcrisy. Even if the childless drive 7 cars and never recycle anything and waste everthing, they are still MUCH greener than any breeder - so SHUT up breeders of the world - it's you that's being selfish and ungreen, not the childless who drive big cars.
I am sick of all this green hypcrisy - you are NOT 'green' for using a bag for life; you're smug and hypcritical. It's just a pathetic red herring.
Regarding the environment - while I accept some of the concerns about marine life, I was amused by one documentary about birdlife on an island rock off the Scottish coast.
"What do the birds find to build their nests from?", asked the presenter.
"Carrier bags and discarded fishing nets", came the reply.
I agree that charging high prices for them is the best move, but I'd like to see the charges NOT getting pocketed by the retailers. That's the way it would work under the Climate Change Act, if any of the realms besides Wales decides to use the clause, though Joan Ruddock simpered that she'd like to think British retailers would use the money wisely when the amendment was being debated in Parliament. . .
That basically makes single-use carrier bags a money spinner instead of a lossmaker for retailers - not really productive, and frankly very half-assed as a government measure! What's happened to New Labour's balls? (Maybe wormery snipped them off in his anti-breeding drive . . .)
A great thing about the Irish model, which was indeed successful on many levels, is that it has a LEVY, rather than a charge, and the funds from this levy are collected to fund environmental initiatives, rather than getting pocketed by retailers. Much more ballsy.
Overpopulation would be the problem if the bulk of the billions lived like people in developed countries, but they don't. Overpopulation is a problem that insecure members of the comparative elite like wormery (and the label probably applies whether or not it's a troll) have invented in response to their fear of the less privileged bulk of humanity, who don't over-consume, indeed who if anything under-consume, and who rightfully resent those who do over-consume. Overconsumption is the problem. Well spotted by wormery. Except it's a bit evident, as it's the point of this article and of most of this thread.
This awful article that Popham has put together from a WRAP press release deals with one aspect of Western overconsumption: an extremely weak but media friendly measure the UK government has sort-of put in place to deal with it, and a pre-emptive, weak but media friendly effort large retailers are making to pre-empt the extremely weak government measure being REALLY put in place.
Sara, the fact that charges from the plastic bags would get pocketed by the retailers under the Act (and I agree they use far too much packaging, and it's infuriating because when that gets obvious, they use equivocal numbers to excuse it by claiming we're all to stupid to buy the right amount of food so their overpackaging prevents wastage/spoilage) is a matter of public knowledge.
The government has hardly broadcast it, of course, so it's only to be expected that people aren't aware of it, unless those people are professionally involved in the matter like me . . . or like Popham, a journalist.
That's why this article is so inexcusably lousy. If Popham had done any research into this matter before re-writing a WRAP press release, he could have pointed out where the as-yet hypothetical charges would go - just as he could have pointed out that Wales actually IS using the clause in the Act, and that Ireland has had a great deal of success with a different, better model.
There . . . I don't like feeding trolls but at least it's given me another chance to bash this pathetically weak Act, and this pathetically weak article!
It's the old method of introducing a target that has no actual relevance to the problem.
This is done for all sorts of reasons, the main one being that the actual problem is a tough one and introducing an easy-peasy arbritary target will deliver the same political kudos with a fraction of the effort and in a matter of months/years.
The target is met to much cheering and smugness and the world is saved!
er...
We started an organisation which aims to do just this. But we need significant numbers to start putting pressure on retilers and suppliers. Go to http://apps.facebook.com/causes/572
It's something called oxo-biodegradable plastic. The 'oxo' bit has nothing to do with the beef cube, but is so called because oxo-bio plastic degardes by oxidation. (It mimics nature).
The point about this rather formidable-sounding plastic is that you can programme it to degrade after a pre-set timespan. In addition, it will degrade completely, which is rare for a plastic, even if you include some of the many so-called degradable or biodegradable ones. It's also rather good on methane. It doesn't produce any, even when buried in a landfill! You can also recycle it.
It is strange that these benefits have not caught on with many British environmentalists as yet, though if Mr Swannell is puzzled, this perhaps partly explains why.
Craig
www.theprintedbagshop.co.uk