England’s Bag Charge Introduced 5th October

The English Single Use Carrier Bag Charge was introduced on 5th October 2015 to help reduce the amount of litter caused by plastic bags and bring an end to the ‘throwaway culture.’ A Single Use Carrier Bag in this case is any unused bag made of lightweight plastic material with handles.

The minimum charge is 5p (including VAT) on these Single Use Plastic Bags. This charge applies to companies with over 250+ full time employees, unlike similar charges in other UK regions where all companies with more than 10 full time members of staff are actively encouraged to participate. This makes the primary target supermarkets, high street brands and large retailers.

Exclusions to this charge include; unwrapped food bags (for human or animal consumption), unwrapped seed and bulb bags, bags for unwrapped blades such as knives, prescription medicine bags, uncooked meat and fish bags, bags to contain live aquatic creatures, returnable, multiple reuse bags such as jute, juco and cotton bags from Jutexpo.

Why Was the Charge Introduced?

In April 2015, the European Parliament approved new rules to reduce plastic bag usage throughout Europe in an attempt to reduce litter. Plastic bag litter has been a huge issue in the UK for a number of years. Over 8 billion single use carrier bags were distributed in the UK in 2013. This equates to more than 120 per person. Not only that, but an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s oceans, estimated to weigh nearly 270,000 tonnes. An average of 176 plastic bags are used per person per year in the EU, and so the target for all member states is to reduce this to 90 a year by 2019 and 40 by 2025. Member states were able to decide for themselves how to reach these numbers, and so the UK settled on a 5p bag charge.

Bag Charge Updates; NI and Wales

In 2011, Wales became the first UK country to impose a 5p charge on all disposable bags, not just plastic. In July 2012, the Welsh Government released a brief summary covering 13 retailers which showed reductions of up to 96% since the launch of the carrier bag charge. More recent figures suggest that Wales have reduced plastic bag usage by 78.2% since 2010. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, saw usage fall by 42.6% last year, following a previous drop of 71% after a carrier bag charge was introduced in April 2013.

Bag Charge Updates; Scotland

October not only marked the introduction of England’s bag charge but also marked the first anniversary of Scotland’s Bag Charge. Zero Waste Scotland announced that plastic bag usage has been reduced by 80%.

For a number of years, Scotland was using more carriers per head than anywhere else in Britain. Scotland used around 752 million bags in 2010, rising to a whopping 803 million in 2013. In October 2015 Zero Waste Scotland announced that the reduction was in the region of 80%, which implies at least 650 million fewer bags have been used. This figure only considers the major seven grocery retailers. For the large grocery retailers alone, this is expected to raise ￡6.7 million for good causes across 2015.

Following the success of the Scottish Bag Charge, Jutexpo have been looking to expand the team in Scotland and support the growing number of companies interested in offering their customers reusable bags. The office was relocated from Alloa to Lanarkshire in March 2015 in order to aid this expansion.

What did this mean for Jutexpo?

.....1 Reusable Bag Sold Every 4 Seconds

In the month of England’s 5p Bag Charge our reusable, ethically-produced bags were in high demand indeed, with 1 reusable bag being sold every 4 seconds!? This phenomenal figure shows the fantastic efforts of consumers in England looking to reduce their plastic bag usage.

Jutexpo’s Compliance Director, Sam Turner stated; “I think it’s fantastic people are a adapting to more ecologically sustainable alternatives to disposable bags. I hope it leads to people being more conscious of broader issues of plastic usage and waste management.”

Personally, I think this has been an exercise in getting people to understand our 'Why'... Want to know more? Feel free to get in touch..