The UK’s Carrier Bag Consortium (CBC, Nottingham; www.carrierbagtax.com) has again urged the Welsh Assembly Government (Cardiff; http://wales.gov.uk) to reconsider its plans to impose a levy on single-use carrier bags – see Plasteurope.com of 18.03.2011. The CBC says Wales is promoting a deeply flawed policy in the mistaken belief that it will achieve a measurable environmental gain. Instead, it should follow the findings of the Environment Agency (EA, Bristol / UK; www.environment-agency.gov.uk), whose recent comprehensive study of different types of carrier bag demonstrated that single-use plastic carriers are not a waste of resource if used and re-used responsibly – see Plasteurope.com of 01.03.2011.

“The Welsh tax flies in the face of science,” said CBC chairman Paul Marmot. “The fact is that the carbon impact of a carrier bag is so small as to barely register when measured against the overall impact of households.”

Wales is introducing a statutory minimum charge of five pence (5.5 cents) per bag, commencing 1 October 2011. Marmot says it is an unnecessary tax, pointing out that research has shown that 76% of households put their free, single-use carrier bags to a secondary use, including as bin liners. Also, levies introduced elsewhere have shown that whilst overall usage of free carrier bags declines, many consumers will still buy a bag – either a lightweight carrier or a reusable one – in order to do their shopping. In addition, CBC says, claims regarding the contribution of bags to litter have been greatly exaggerated in Wales. Now, it says, “it is time to start focusing on the really important environmental and sustainability issues.”