Our green guilt is clouding the picture and we are ignoring some of the wider issues.
It had to happen sooner or later, didn't it? Alistair Darling's thinly veiled budget threat to force retailers to charge for plastic bags has backfired big time. His toddler-management approach is patronising to business at best and narrow-minded at
worst; if you don't reduce the number of plastic bags used by your customers, I'll make you pay by making them pay, and to hell with the wider environmental issue.
Well, now one of the big boys has stood up to the Chancellor and spoken out. Justin King, Sainsbury's chief executive, warned that imposing mandatory charges for plastic bags is "not the best way" to change shoppers' behaviour.
The Chancellor's plan appears to have been hatched in isolation. It's bizarre when you consider that Government-led and funded organisations have been working – successfully – with major retailers for some time now to develop effective ways of minimising packaging and reducing the impact of plastic bags on our environment.
It's even more bizarre when you know that that impact is significantly less than we are being led to believe.
"This debate is much wider than just the number of plastic bags in use," said King. "Most consumers are genuinely concerned about the environment and want to play their part – but it's getting harder to separate fact from fiction."
It's a retail myth that plastic bags are a significant contributor to the UK's litter and waste problem, and that a tax on them would reduce environmental impact. Just ask the British Retail Consortium:
• Plastic bags of all kinds make up just over half of 1% of litter on our streets.
• Even if plastic carrier bags end up in landfill they only take up around 0.3% of space.
• Plastic is by far the lightest of all carrier bag materials, so it takes much less fuel to transport producing fewer emissions.
• A paper bag weighs roughly six times more than plastic, is about four times more expensive and takes up to 10 times more storage space.
&149 A plastic bag tax introduced in Ireland decreased their use, but resulted in an increase of 300%-500% in the sale of plastic refuse bags and bin liners, which contain much more plastic than bags. According to Good Business, a corporate responsibility consultancy, the most effective way to reduce the number of plastic bags used at the supermarket is to reward the consumer. Its research found that 72% of those surveyed would like loyalty points (Tesco, among others, is currently doing this); 56% said supermarkets should stop stocking plastic bags altogether; and 43% said people should be made more aware of their environmental impact. Only 28% said being made to pay would work.
"We agree with Justin King," said Larissa Persons, head of strategy and corporate responsibility at Good Business. "The issue is packaging, not just plastic bags. And when it comes to plastic bags, it's far from a simple story. It's great to see the head of one of the UK's largest supermarket chains laying out the issue in all of its complexity and actively engaging with all aspects of it, rather than just jumping on the plastic bag-wagon."
It's easy to induce guilt in the consumer by showing heart-wrenching images of wildlife entangled in plastic bags, but guilt alone won't stop the consumer from using them, and neither will slapping a tax on each bag. It's a fact that there's a limited ability to recycle in this country – most plastic is shipped to Germany or the Far East for recycling – and I'm sure we are all confused and disappointed by our local authorities' efforts to manage our recycling needs.
UK attempts are half-hearted, to say the least, and extend from a sparse few large recycling companies (which is where the Government focus should really be, offering support and incentives to help develop these valuable businesses) to ridiculous recycling tips.
The green guilt we all feel is clouding the picture and we appear to be ignoring some of the wider environmental and business issues, such as the impact on the multi-billion pound packaging industry in the UK, and closer to home, on the 15–20 manufacturers, importers and distributors of plastic carrier bags in Scotland, most of which are SMEs.
Just last year the Scottish Executive commissioned a study into the plastic bag levy proposed by MSP Mike Pringle. It revealed that a mandatory charge on plastic bags would lead to job losses as researchers considered it unlikely that plants that currently manufacture plastic carrier bags would switch to alternative products (such as producing bin liners). They estimated losses of between 300 and 700 direct jobs, with further indirect jobs being affected.
The study also said preliminary estimates suggest the levy could cost Scottish local authorities a total of £3m-4m to set up and £3.5m per year to manage.
So if not a levy, then what? To continue with the toddler analogy, it's got to be about education and reward for good effort. As Mr King says: "I'm not saying that plastic and bags are not an issue, but let's engage people in sensible debate to effect real and sustainable change. Surely that's the overall goal?"
