One billion fewer plastic bags given away by shops

Martin Hickman, The Independent 29 Feb 08;

Shops gave away one billion fewer plastic bags last year as they responded to a government call to improve their record on the environmental damage they cause.

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) announced the cut in the annual number of bags, from 13.4 billion to 12.4 billion, after a meeting with retailers who have promised to reduce their impact by a quarter by the end of this year. The 21 major retailers signed up to the 25 per cent target in February last year.

Campaigners have been worried about the amount of natural and finite resources such as oil that go into plastic bags, along with problems arising from their disposal. Plastic bags are expected to remain intact for 1,000 years and collect in the countryside and in the sea, where they are ingested by, and sometimes choke, marine animals such as gulls and turtles.

Asda, Tesco, Primark, Debenhams, Boots, John Lewis and 15 other high street retailers have been trying different initiatives to reduce the harmful effect of the bags. Their techniques have included reducing bag size, increasing their recycled content, rewarding their reuse, introducing in-store bag recycling facilities (up by 43 per cent), and putting cashiers rather than customers in charge of dispensing them.

One of the signatories, Marks & Spencer, confirmed its intention yesterday to charge customers 5p for each bag following a successful trial in Northern Ireland, as reported in The Independent on 16 November.

London councils have also tabled a parliamentary Bill banning free bags, following a successful bag-free experiment in Modbury, Devon. Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and Hay-on-Wye in Herefordshire have done likewise and many other communities are considering the move.

In a statement yesterday, Wrap said that the use of virgin material such as oil in the bags had been reduced by 14 per cent. It went on: "Performance has been very variable, with retailers reporting activity ranging from a 70 per cent reduction in virgin plastic use to an increase of 22 per cent.

We are disappointed there has not been more progress on the actual number of bags reduced.

"While the 14 per cent reduction achieved is broadly on track to reach the overall target, there's no room for complacency."

Wrap declined to specify which retailers had done well because it had signed confidentiality agreements.

Richard Swannell, director of retail, said: "Recent developments show there is clear momentum from retailers, although clearly more needs to be done."

Sir Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, said the introduction of a 5p charge from 6 May was part of the company's 100-point eco plan. "We want to make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment," he said. Michael Grimes, head of the waste practice at Eversheds law firm, praised the development but asked: "Will people really notice the 5p? And what about legislation? There are suggestions the London councils' Bill to ban throwaway bags in the capital may, if enacted, one day extend nationally."