Large shops to charge for single-use plastic carrier bag

CANTERBURY (Scrap Monster): England will charge 5p on single-use plastic bags effective Monday, October 5^th. The rules are applicable to all businesses that sell or deliver goods. Small shops are exempted from collecting the charge.

Plastic bags with handles with thickness 70 microns or less will be charged. The charges will be applicable to online shopping orders too. The levy of charge is intended to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags by shoppers and to promote use of reusable bags. The introduction of the charge is expected to reduce the number of plastic bags ending up in landfills. Also, retailers are expected to donate all proceeds of bag sales to charity puirposes.

As per estimates, the number of single-use plastic bags handed out at UK supermarkets totaled 8.5 billion during the entire year 2014. The bags handed out in England alone totaled 7.6 billion during the year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had earlier imposed 5p charge on single-use plastic bags. Wales, which implemented the 5p policy in 2011, has reported 79% decline in plastic bag consumption since then. There has been a sizable cut in plastic bag usage in Scotland and Northern Ireland too.

Meantime, a UK research group is currently doing studies to develop a new, recyclable biodegradable single-use plastic carrier bag. The research by Open University’s Integrated Waste Systems (IWS) research group is being funded by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The new bags are intended to be biodegradable and will have no harmful effects on plants and animals. The research is expected to complete in one year. Reportedly, the government is looking at possibilities to exempt the biodegradable carrier bags, when developed, from the 5p charge.