[Metrobeans]

B471 - Plastic Bag Levy Bill 2012, TSR Liberal Democrat (with contribution from UnderPost)

Plastic Bag Levy Bill 2012

A Bill to introduce a levy for obtaining a disposable plastic bag for the storage and carrying of objects.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1. Charges

1.1 The supply of 'disposable plastics bags' by 'retailers' to 'customers' shall incur a levy of 10 pence for each 'disposable plastic bag' obtained by the 'customer';
1.2 Wherever 'disposable plastics bags' are available to 'customers', the 'retailer' must also supply an alternative in the form of 'reusable plastic bags';
1.3 Section 1.2 only applies if the retail premises exceed a floor space of 280 square metres;
1.4 All plastic bags used, whether 'disposable' or 'reusable', will be at least 30 micrometers in thickness;
1.5 The 'retailers' will charge the levy themselves for any 'disposable plastic bag' they or their employees use on or off the retail premises, where that use is work related;
1.6 The levy in 1.1 shall also apply to any 'disposable paper bags;'

2. Definitions

'Reusable plastic bag' means any plastic bag which is strong enough to be use several times and which can currently be purchased at a cost of no less than five times the sum of the levy set out in 1.1;
'Disposable plastic bag' means any bag not defined as a 'Reusable plastic bag' and which is thicker than 30 micrometres.
'Customer' refers to any person, people or organisation which requires a product or products from other sources.
'Retailer' refers to any person, people or organisation which supplies a product or products to other sources.
'Disposable paper bag' means any paper bag which is not strong enough to be used multiple times to carry goods;

3. Payment of charges

3.1 The 10 pence levy set out in 1.1 shall be paid by the 'retailer' to the Treasury;
3.2 The 'retailer' shall pay accumulated levies on a quarterly basis, via a returns form;
3.3 Up to 10% of the levy shall be used by the Treasury to cover its administrative costs;
3.4 The rest of the levy shall be sent to an 'Environmental Improvement Scheme,' which shall allocate funding to any projects which seek to improve the natural environment of any area in the UK;

4. Exemptions

4.1 The following types of bags are exempt from all sections of this Act (including 1.4):
(1). Bags used to contain fresh meat, fish or poultry, loose fruit and vegetables and other foods that are not otherwise packaged;
(2). Bags used to contain ice and powdered detergents;
(3). Plastic bags used to contain goods or products sold on board an aircraft or ship, or in an area of a port or airport to which intending passengers are denied access unless in possession of a valid ticket or boarding card;

5. Commencement, and extent

5.1 This Act shall come into force on the first day of October 2012;
5.2 This Act extends to England;

Notes

Spoiler:

Show

Background:

1. Plastic bags normally used by retailers are usually weak and are manufactured in vast quantities. We use over 8 billion a year in the UK and the manufacture of them is dangerous to the environment.

2. These plastic bags produce a large amount of waste which is hard to dispose of, dangerous to wildlife/the environment and very slow to decompose - usually ending up as tiny plastic pellets rather than complete decomposing (tiny plastic pellets are found in huge quantities on our beaches and are being consumed by wildlife and so entering the food chain).

3. Many bags currently classed as reusable (the ones which only cost a few pence) are still often weak and are not always suitable for re-using.

4. A similar levy, on which several of the ideas outline below are based, has been introduced in Ireland; it was responsible for a 90% decrease in non-reusable bags used and brought in 3.5 million Euros revenue in the first 5 months. In the UK, we should expect a similar percentage reduction and estimate that 80-120 million Euros shall be raised in the first year; it should be noted however that the scheme will not raise any additional money overall for the government as most of the money raised shall be automatically allocated to environmental projects.

5. Links:

a. On the Irish scheme
b. Also on the Irish scheme
c. A BBC article on plastic bags

6. Will this be passed onto the consumer?
The simple answer is... yes. As explained here, the vast majority of alternative method would pass on to the consumer. It is also important to put this into perspective; the tax will raise about £100 million. In the meantime, VAT has been cut by £65 billion over the past couple of months on TSR. So before anyone brings up those 'poor troubled consumers' again.... this is the rough equivalent of a 0.1159 percentage points increase in VAT (to 4 d.p.), at the same time as VAT has fallen by 13.5 percentage points

7. Paper Bags
This issue of paper bags was first mentioned here. Although paper bags may seem more environmentally friendly then plastic bags, there are some problems with their decomposition underground (without oxygen) and other things. See some of the links for more information on the issue: this, this and this

8. Changes between second and third readings:
1. Added the bit about paper bags

[jesusandtequila]

No.

[toronto353]

No. Why don't people bother reading criticisms?

[Birchington]

Aye. This will end our wasteful approach to plastic bag use and help the environment. It has been very successful IRL, and if you want to avoid the bag levy all you have to do is re-use you bags. It's hardly difficult to avoid.

[Morgsie]

Yes absolutely. I get Green points when I go to Tesco to do my shop and I use my own bags.

[TheCrackInTime]

I've been away and missed the first two readings so I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but would you mind explaining the logic behind mandating that re-usable bags must cost at least 5 times more than disposable ones?

[barnetlad]

Fewer bags to injure animals good- still think doesn't need some of the exemptions such as on aircraft.

[Hopple]

Unless I'm reading it wrong, why is there a minimum price of 50p on a reusable bag? You want to penalise waste plastic, not re-used plastic, right?

[LETSJaM]

(Original post by TheCrackInTime)
I've been away and missed the first two readings so I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but would you mind explaining the logic behind mandating that re-usable bags must cost at least 5 times more than disposable ones?

This!

<3 x

[Metrobeans]

This is in cessation.