Do you agree with the 5p bag charge in England?

It's absolutely rubbish and not pro-business. Certainly a put off for me. If I owned a supermarket, I would pre-buy carrier bags so that then my customers can use them for free. Shame on the government for introducing this. Just adds on to the barrage of taxes to pay. Income tax, TV tax, Council tax, vehicle tax - just to name a few.
Heck, how do people save money in this country?

Not allowed (at least under the system in Wales). The cost must be passed on to the customer.

Reply 221

Asuna Yuuki

9

Original post by ForgetMe

They should increase the price per each bag. In Lithuania, regular plastic bag costs about 20-30p and people either carry their own long lasting bags or handbags etc. This thing has been going on probably 30 years and none of the people found it problematic, I don't see why people in England would find it a problem, just get a bag that lasts longer and voila.

Yeah, exactly.

imo 5p isn't enough to really encourage re-using bags :/

Reply 222

welshbanana

It's been in Wales for a few years now and plastic bag use has reduced by 80%. I don't really think it would be necessary to increase the price at all

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Reply 223

Saracen's Fez

20

Original post by United1892

On all non-essential products yes. :smile:

Original post by CoolCavy

i suppose the question now is, should bags be classed as essential? :beard:

VAT isn't really a question of essential v non-essential though. It's in practice a little more subtle than that.

Reply 224

welshbanana

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 225

TheMcSame

19

I don't agree or disagree with it, can't say I'd be willing to pay for a bag that can barely hold its own weight though.

Frankly, if you want to get something done about waste plastic then crack down on the real wastes: packaging and plastic bottles. I'd be willing to bet that plastic bags don't generate nearly as much waste as either of them.

Reply 226

ChaoticButterfly

20

Original post by SophieSmall

I also think the government should invest in more litter bins, round here at least. Sometimes I'll walk a good 3 miles and not see one.

The charity I volunteer for say if they put bins down they just get a load of rubbish in a given radius around the bin. They get less litter with no bins.

Humans are morons.

Reply 227

deathbeforeimmortality

16

Yes because many plastic bags are being wasted. 5p though for those flimsy plastic bags that rip almost immediately?

Reply 228

welshbanana

Original post by TheMcSame

I don't agree or disagree with it, can't say I'd be willing to pay for a bag that can barely hold its own weight though.

Frankly, if you want to get something done about waste plastic then crack down on the real wastes: packaging and plastic bottles. I'd be willing to bet that plastic bags don't generate nearly as much waste as either of them.

Only a penny more for a bag for life and you can usually replace them for free too (in asda you can anyway).

Totally agree with the excessive packaging though.

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Reply 229

SophieSmall

21

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

The charity I volunteer for say if they put bins down they just get a load of rubbish in a given radius around the bin. They get less litter with no bins.

Humans are morons.

fact.

Reply 230

HannahMusgrave

2

only decent thing the Tory government has managed to muster

Reply 231

Quiet _One86

16

Yes for the environmental sake etc but the hassle of remembering that they're going to charge if you forget about or didn't account for them in your weekly budget
Saying that, don't we all have bags for life and woven bags anyway! those who pop into the shop for a quick shop aren't going to always remember and some leniency is given to those.

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(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 232

vis break

3

so what if man doesnt have 5p? you gunna make me carry all my shoppin home without a bag??
do i look like hindu god with 1000arms??

Reply 233

Skeptique

1

Original post by CoolCavy

Do you agree with the 5p bag charge in England?

everything you need to know about the changes is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34346309

I dont know if anyone here is old enough to remember but they tried to do this about about 20 years ago, it flopped then as ppl just demanded a refund if they didn't get the bag for free. What business can survive loosing £5 worth of trade over a 5p bag that was free 24 hrs ago? (its a sur charge=unethical).

Same thing will happen again.

Reply 234

username1148663

21

Original post by Skeptique

I dont know if anyone here is old enough to remember but they tried to do this about about 20 years ago, it flopped then as ppl just demanded a refund if they didn't get the bag for free. What business can survive loosing £5 worth of trade over a 5p bag that was free 24 hrs ago? (its a sur charge=unethical).

Same thing will happen again.

No it is legislated now in law the customer must pay 5p the business isn't allowed to pay the charge for the customer.

Like I said earlier in the thread if anyone wanted to sort the issue out its quite simple legislate for paper bags to be used only as they could be free and easily recyclable

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Reply 235

jeremy1988

13

I think that a fee isn't worthwhile, and that only banning the bags from stores entirely would have a real impact. Most people will just pay a small fee without thinking twice. It disproportionately affects people with lower incomes. Anyone that finds the bag fee a burden is also going to have issues affording a reusable bag. The fact that the fee covers such a wide area is good, though. That makes it harder for people to cross county or city lines to get away from it.

They had an extremely similar fee here in Dallas, where you had to pay 5 cents per bag. They were trying to encourage people to keep reusable bags, but it didn't really work out. Everyone just went to shop in a different town to avoid the fee, and people who continued shopping came up with creative, spiteful ways to avoid needing a bag. Like carrying everything in their arms or unloading the contents of the cart into the backseat one item at a time. There was one cashier who insisted that the customer was required to accept and pay for a bag if they hadn't brought a reusable one with them, even if they didn't need a bag to carry their purchase out of the store. She got sued for that.

Ultimately, the fee was lifted because the bag manufacturers and recyclers actually filed a class action lawsuit against the city claiming that the ban was a violation of state law, and that it was obstructing them from doing business. The Attorney General was behind them, so they just scrapped the fees to avoid trouble. The total ban of plastic bags they were planning also got scrapped. Hopefully you could avoid a similar outcome if you do decide to ban the bags.

Reply 236

Skeptique

1

Original post by paul514

No it is legislated now in law the customer must pay 5p the business isn't allowed to pay the charge for the customer.

Like I said earlier in the thread if anyone wanted to sort the issue out its quite simple legislate for paper bags to be used only as they could be free and easily recyclable

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Right and wrong, your proposed way takes too much time; wont help me on my random impulse buy. Brits take too much lying down without protest. We should do a "Gandhi" and just not co-operate.

Reply 237

smilesatgalleria

1

Original post by TimmonaPortella

5p won't affect anyone's behaviour. If they really wanted to do something about it they'd make it 50p or £1. Then everyone would start using those perfectly cheap and serviceable 'bags for life'.

edit: although it seems to have in Wales, which I find surprising. I suppose I'm in favour on that basis, but it still seems a little half-hearted to me.

you ri8 m agree with you.