Plastic bag tax proposal in Scotland meets with opposition

Plastic bag tax proposal in Scotland meets with opposition

	Published : Mon, 29 Aug 2005 11:20 By : Amy Watts Print this Story

LONDON: Retailers in Scotland are fighting a proposal to levy a 10 per cent tax on the use of plastic bags. They say the move will be an administrative nightmare and will actually lead to increase in waste.

Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle has mooted the measure in a bill, the Plastic Bag Levy (Scotland) Bill, with a view to make use of the funds so generated on local environmental improvements.

The bill has been backed by organisations like the Friends of the Earth Scotland, which said a legislation on these lines will definitely benefit the country's environment. The organisation's head of research, Dr Dan Barlow, said if such a scheme was introduced, consumers would either re-use carrier bags or switch to long-lasting canvas or cotton alternatives. He pointed out such a scheme has met with success in Ireland, where the number of plastic bags changing hands has come down by as much as 90 per cent.

Other organisations supporting the proposal are the Scottish Green Party, the World Wildlife Fund Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Meanwhile, an organisation representing the interests of plastic bag manufacturers, the Carrier Bag Consortium, said that a study conducted by the Scottish Executive revealed that a switch over to paper bags would create an additional 5,400 tonnes of waste being dumped at landfill sites. It also said there would be job losses.

The findings of the study are to be published today.

It is estimated that over one billion plastic bags are given away free in Scotland every year. There are stores which now have started charging for the bags.

A Scottish Executive spokesperson said it had not yet taken a position on the bill. She reiterated the Executive's advice to consumers that they should reuse the bags.

The report is understood to have recommended that the tax should be extended to paper bags as well as it has found that the paper bags thrown at land fills generate methane and carbon dioxide, which add to global warming. It cautioned that in spite of the levy, the overall environmental benefits would be modest when compared to the environmental impacts of other activities.

Mr Pringle reacted to the purported suggestions in the report saying the key thing it has not included is the emphasis that would be put on recycling. "I fully expect that a large number of people would choose to recycle the paper bags they get. Even more would not use paper bags and choose to get a bag for life."

The bill moots local authorities be made responsible for collecting the revenue from the levy from some 52,690 retailers in Scotland and channelling it into local environmental projects.