UK retailers are succeeding on their own initiative in reducing carrier bag usage, so why is compulsory legislation needed to ban them?

Why are we talking about this issue now?

For the past few years retailers have been committed to supporting their customers in reducing the use of carrier bags in an attempt to tackle waste and damage to the environment.

In 2008 the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the Government and leading supermarkets agreed to a voluntary approach to cut the number of single-use bags given to customers by 50% by spring 2009. Participating supermarkets include Asda, Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

What are the statistics on supermarkets cutting usage?

Since independent monitoring began in 2006, the total number of carrier bags being distributed has reduced each year, despite rising sales volumes. The number of single-use bags handed out in the UK has been reduced by 4.6 billion. In May there was a 43% reduction in bag use compared with May 2006 and over 2009 the reduction was 35%. This is despite a sales growth of 6.3% by the supermarkets. Retailers have also reduced the amount of material in bags by 39,700 tonnes per year.

Is this success an argument against implementing legal restrictions?

The figures released last week seem to prove that the voluntary approach is extremely effective. The BRC said it thought there was little need for the rest of the UK to join Wales in its compulsory legislation, which has made the distribution of free carrier bags effectively illegal.

According to environmental group Wrap, while England has voluntarily reduced single-bag usage by 46% since 2006, Wales is only slightly ahead with a 50% reduction.

The BRC maintains its position in opposition to introducing compulsory bag charges or bans in the rest of the UK and remains determined to sustain this voluntary scheme, which leaves retailers free to decide which method of reducing carrier bag use suits them.

Which retailers charge for bags?

In 2006 Ikea became the first leading UK retailer to impose a mandatory charge on bags. Of the seven major retailers that started out with the BRC’s pledge few have opted for charging, with M&S being the only retailer to have a 5p bag fee for its food bags.

Instead, retailers have taken imaginative steps to cut their carrier bag provision. For example, Tesco has a reward points scheme for re-using bags, Sainsbury’s has Bags for Life and Asda has removed disposable bags from its checkouts.