The new English carrier bag charge – what you need to know. For more information, view the accompanying blog: http://ee.ricardo.com/cms/the-new-english-carrier-bag-charge-what-you-need-to-know/

1. The Impact of Levies on Single
Use Carrier Bags – A UK
Perspective
Dr Nia Owen
Principal Consultant
6th October 2015

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• A personal welcome
• Single use carrier bags and their use across the globe
• Approaches used in the UK to reduce single use carrier bag usage and
their performance:
– UK Voluntary Agreement on Carrier Bags
– Legislation in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland & England
• Conclusions
Overview

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• Principal Consultant
• 11 years experience in the waste sector
• Member of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management
• Knowledge Leader for Waste Auditing
• PhD in material recovery facility design and performance
• Expertise in recycling scheme monitoring, data analysis and options
appraisal
• Acknowledgements
– Brian Mayne, Jamie Warmington and Adam Read
A personal welcome

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• Over a trillion plastic SUCBs used globally each year.
• Environmental impacts of carrier bags
– Use of non-renewable resources
– Litter: over 8 billion SUCBs became litter in 2010!
• Range of measures used across the globe to reduce the consumption of
SUCBs:
– Bangladesh: complete ban since 2002
– Denmark: bag tax of 22 DDK/kg paid by retailers since 1994
• EU plans to introduce measures:
– Target in draft document - ‘to reduce plastic bags by 80% by 2019,
against 2010 baseline’
– Recommend taxes, levies, marketing restrictions or bans to reduce
their use
Background

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• The major supermarkets in the UK
distributed over 8 billion SUCBs across
the UK
• Marine Conservation Society reported
38 plastic bags per km of Britain’s
coastline in 2011.
• Plastic bags contribute 0.1-1.0% of
visible litter in the UK
• Hoarding of bags by consumers is also
an issue....
Carrier bag use in the UK
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
477495/Meet-wacky-woman-collected-23-
000-plastic-bags.html

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• Number of towns and communities have
become plastic bag free
– 17 towns already plastic bag free
– Further towns in the planning stages to be
plastic bag free
• UK has taken action to reduce SUCB use:
– Voluntary retailer commitment to reduce
SUCB usage since 2006
– Devolved administrations have introduced
regulations to reduce SUCB usage in recent
times.
• This may result in changes to fancy dress
costumes...
Carrier bag use in the UK
Source:
http://www.anorak.co.uk/375819/celebrities/
epic-puns-the-lidle-wain-costume.html/

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• Initiated between Defra, the devolved governments, the British Retail
Consortium (trade association for the retail sector) and its supermarket
members to reduce SUCB use by 50% by 2009 based on a 2006 baseline
• 7 supermarkets signed up:
– Tesco; Asda; Marks & Spencer; Co-operative Group; Somerfield;
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets; and Waitrose
• Results show that the target of 50% reduction was narrowly missed.
• Retailers agreed to continue monitoring usage
– Since 2009, the number of SUCBs used has been increasing yearly
• Results also show that bag for life usage has been increasing year on
year from 2006 to 2013
– Positive trend, provided that they are reused!
UK Voluntary agreement

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• First country in the UK to introduce a charge on SUCBs
• Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Wales) Regulations 2010.
– Came into force in October 2011
– Shoppers in Wales have to pay a minimum of 5p for each SUCB used
at point of sale
• Aims of charge:
– Decrease the number of SUCBs used in Wales and encourage shift to
reusable bags
– Reducing resource use
– Preventing waste
– Improving local environmental quality – reducing visible litter
Wales

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• What to retailers need to do?
– Charge for single use carrier bags made of paper, plastic, part plastic
(including recycled and degradable plastic) at point of sale unless an
exemption is in place
– There is no charge for bags designed to be reused
– Exemptions in place for prescription medication, bags required for food
hygiene, items sold on board ships, trains, or in airports after you pass
through security
– Retailers are responsible for the distribution of the proceeds
• Regulations do not specify where the proceeds should be distributed. But
Welsh Government has developed a voluntary agreement on their use:
– Net proceeds should be donated to good causes
– Retailers should keep a record of bag use
Wales

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• Ricardo has been evaluating the impact of the charge for Welsh Government.
• Economic evaluation estimated average benefits to the Welsh economy of
£8.8m per annum.
• SUCB use declined by 71% between October 2011 and December 2014
– BUT, data for supermarkets suggest that SUCB is increasing which may
impact on the benefits of the charge in the longer term
– Welsh Government may wish to consider an increase in the charge
• Consumers:
– Consumer support for the 5p charge increased from 61% prior to the
introduction of the charge to 74% in February 2015
– SUCB use varied depending on the type of shopping:
• SUCB use was higher in takeaways and non-food shops compared to food
shopping activities
Wales – impact of the charge

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• Retailers:
– 87% of retailers reported that the charge made either a positive or
neutral impact on their business
– 74% agreed that they are happy for the charge to continue as it is
– Total administrative cost of SUCB charge to retailers across wales
estimated at £180,000
– Donations to good causes:
• 78% retailers reported donating all of the net proceeds and a further
9% reported donating a portion of the net proceeds
• Donation to good causes estimated at £17 million - £22 million
• Litter:
– 59% of retailers agreed that ‘the charge has helped to reduce litter
– 66% of consumers agreed that ‘the charge has helped to reduce littering
in my local authority’
Wales – impact of the charge

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• SUCB levy came into force in April 2013
• Retailers to charge a minimum of 5p on SUCBs made from plastic,
paper, starch etc. @ point of sale
• Exemptions in place
– including bags used for takeaway hot food and drinks
• Net proceeds of the levy payable to the Dept of the Environment
– who distribute the charge to good causes
Northern Ireland

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• In 2013/14:
– 84.5 million SUCBs were issued by retailers in Northern Ireland
– Estimated that 300 million bags were issued 2012/13
– 72% reduction in SUCB use
– Levy raised £4.17 million and £3.4 million allocated to over 250
environmental projects
• Changes to the levy introduced in January 2015
– 5p levy extended to all carrier bags with a retail price of 20p or less
regardless of whether they are SUCBs or reusable bags
– Aims to encourage consumers to actively reuse bags including
reusable bags rather than using them in the same way as a SUCB
Northern Ireland – Impact of the levy

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• SUCB charge introduced in October 2014
• Retailers must charge a minimum 5p charge for each new SUCB at the
point of sale
– Applies to all SUCBs – paper, plastic and plant based materials
• Regulations do not specify how the net proceeds of the charge should
be used by retailers
– Encouraging businesses to donate the charge to good causes
• To support the regulations, the Carrier Bag Commitment has been
developed. Signatories agree to:
– Donate the net proceeds from the charge to good causes;
– Submit an annual report on the number of carrier bags issued, and
how the net proceeds were distributed
Scotland

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• Significant increase in SUCB use @ supermarkets
in 2013 before the introduction of the charge
• No reporting data available as yet…
• We are analyzing the data on behalf of Scottish
Government NOW!
Scotland

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• Retailers in England must charge a minimum of 5p on plastic SUCBs
from 5th October 2015
• Two key differences to the charges used elsewhere in the UK:
– Charge will only apply to plastic bags
– Business with less than 250 employees will be exempt.
– This does mean that for franchises – some will need to charge and
others won’t depending on their size….
• An exemption for biodegradable bags is proposed as a future change to
the Regulations
– Government will provide further information this month on this
proposal
England

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• Voluntary and regulatory approach used in the UK and both have proven
to be effective
• Voluntary Agreement only narrowly missed its target
• Results of the regulations implemented in Wales and Northern Ireland
have also proven to be effective:
– 72% and 71% decline in SUCB use in Northern Ireland and Wales
respectively
• Key change in Northern Ireland with the levy being applied to bags for life
as well as SUCBs – interesting to see what impact this has on bag use?
• The charge just implemented in England will also be interesting given its
difference to charges elsewhere in the UK
– with potential inconsistencies in terms of charging across big name
stores like Subway due to the rules for franchises …..
Conclusions

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• For other countries considering introducing a policy to reduce the
consumption of SUCBs:
– A regulatory approach may not be necessary
– Consider the administrative requirements so that it is not a burden for
retailers
– Introducing charges has proven to be a popular policy with consumers
due to the littering aspects as well as the donation of proceeds to good
causes.......
• Learn from others ....
Conclusion

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Good Morning!

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Ricardo Energy & Environment
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Nia Owen
01235 75 3688
Nia.Owen@ricardo.com
www.ricardo.com