Sustainability Committee publishes report calling for levy on plastic bags

The National Assembly’s Sustainability Committee today publishes its report on the petition on the banning of plastic carrier bags. Following six months of evidence gathering, the report calls on the Welsh Assembly Government to impose a levy on the use of carrier bags at check outs.  The Committee report suggests that money raised from the levy should be used to fund environmental projects in Wales.  Estimates indicate that a levy of 10p per bag could create annual revenue worth £6.48 million.

The report stems from a petition submitted to the Assembly by Neil Evans from Carmarthenshire, who took part in a BBC project to suggest new laws for Wales.  His suggestion won a public vote and his petition was submitted to the Petitions Committee who passed it on to the Sustainability Committee.

Mick Bates AM, Chair of the Assembly’s Sustainability Committee, explains:

“From the evidence we have received, we recognise that Government intervention is required to control the use of single carrier bags as it represents an important and visible symbol of the environmental impact of consumer choices.

“We have concerns about the ability of Wales to enforce a unilateral ban on plastic bags.  Not only would it demand a large amount of resources to police, there are also issues for those communities living close to the English border. We do not consider that banning plastic bags in Wales would be a feasible option for the Welsh Assembly Government.   

“The Committee believes that a levy is the best and most practical form of intervention that the Welsh Assembly Government could make and that profits raised from such a levy should be used for environmental benefits.

“Consumers in Wales will soon see that a small change in their purchasing and disposal behaviours can quickly affect a large change on the environment.”

The Committee Members took evidence from a number of organisations including Keep Wales Tidy; the Marine Conservation Society; the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the British Retail Consortium.

Full report

Notes to Editors:

1. Welsh Ministers will have the powers to impose a levy under a new clause in the Climate Change Bill which is expected to finish its passage through Parliament in November.

2. An estimated 648 million plastic bags per distributed in Wales each year;

Almost all of these are distributed 'free of charge', although using figures calculated by Keep Wales Tidy, the hidden cost to Welsh consumers of these bags is more than £6 million a year. It is estimated that a plastic bag takes between 450 and 1,000 years to degrade.

3. An estimate of the amounts that could potentially be raised by a levy is:

• At a levy of 10p per bag, the annual revenue from a levy would be £6.48 million;

• At a levy of 15p per bag, the annual revenue would be £9.72 million;

• At a levy of 20p per bag, the annual revenue would be £13.96 million.  

Further information about the petition calling for the banning of plastic pags in Wales