Welsh Government
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Minister outlines plan to reduce free one-use carrier bags in Wales

Plans to reduce free single-use plastic carrier bags in Wales were unveiled by Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing today (29th June).

Ms Davidson launched a consultation asking for views on proposals to introduce a charge on single use carrier bags at the annual Welsh Litter summit at the Swalec Stadium, Cardiff.

Supermarket members of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have already agreed to reduce the amount of single-use carrier bags they give out by 50% by spring 2009.

Ms Davidson said:

“I support the voluntary agreement but I want to make more of a difference in Wales. This agreement does not cover all retailers and means that half of all plastic bags are still used for one shopping trip. I want to look at how we can further reduce the amount of single use carrier bags and how we can encourage more people to re-use bags.”

The main areas where the Assembly Government is seeking views are:

  • What type of bags should be included?
  • Which retailers should charge for bags?
  • How much should the charge be?
  • How should records be kept of these charges and how should they be published?
  • How would the scheme be administered and enforced?

Ms Davidson said:

“An estimated 480 million plastic bags are used in Wales each year. It takes between 500 and 1,000 years for these bags to degrade and this cannot continue.

“By re-using bags, not only will we reduce litter, but also help cut our global footprint.”

Last month, the Welsh Assembly Government launched a bi-lingual radio and website campaign – ‘Get Carried Away’ - to encourage people to re-use their single use carrier bags and help them remember to take their bags with them when they go shopping. The first 1,000 people who registered with the site will receive a re-usable bag.

The Republic of Ireland introduced a charge in 2002 and they have seen huge over 90 per cent reduction in the amount of single use plastic bags.

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The intention is that the charge would be payable by consumers at the point of sale at all retail outlets.
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