Scottish Government

Appendix 1. International Context - Experience Elsewhere

Republic of Ireland

The Irish Government introduced the PlasTax on plastic bags ( HDPE and degradable plastic) in spring 2002 at a time when 1.2 billion bags were being used annually. The PlasTax was introduced because of the same concerns as in Scotland, i.e. litter, resource use and respect for the environment [EuroCommerce, Pringle, Reusable Bags]. Recycling was not considered a viable option as the Republic of Ireland lacks the necessary infrastructure. It is estimated that plastic bags make up less than 1% of land litter in the Republic of Ireland, with less than 1% of all bags actually being littered [EuroCommerce].

The levy was set at €0.15 (£0.10) on most single-use bags sold to consumers at retail outlets of any kind, with the raised money being set aside for environmental improvement schemes. The levy is intentionally high so as to be off-putting to consumers - effecting change in consumer behaviour is one of its main objectives.

Some plastic bags are excluded from the levy:

• Those sold for over €0.70 (approximately £0.48), i.e. re-usable 'bags for life'.
• For hygiene reasons, those meant to contain loose, unpackaged foods, such as fresh meat and fish, fruit and vegetables.

Key features of the Irish scheme have been:

• An education campaign prior to the introduction of the levy - TV and billboards with emotive angle [ UCD].
• A clear driver - visible litter was cited as a problem in rural areas and was a serious concern to the tourism industry.
• Levy charged at point-of-sale.
• Minimal effort for compliance.
• Ability to track levy evasion.
• A significant levy charge that is high enough to be 'off-putting' to consumers - consumer apathy was seen as high.
• Availability of reusable bags.
• Levy applied to biodegradable bags too (not seen as an environmentally friendly alternative).
• An existing online levying system that major retailers were already used to.

The scheme operates as follows. Every quarter retailers send a direct debit slip to the Collector-General in Limerick. The Revenue Commissioners were provided with initial set-up costs of €1.2 million, earmarked for new computer systems and increased resources to administer the levy.

They also receive €300,000 per year for ongoing costs [ UCD]. Payment is by electronic debiting of the retailer's bank account. An online system for this, the Revenue Online System ( ROS), was in place prior to the introduction of the levy. There has been only one prosecution to date, this has explained by the practice of visiting any retailer not complying, their non-compliance verified and a warning issued. Only a few hundred out of around 50,000 retailers have been subjected to this process [communication from Terry Sheridan, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Republic of Ireland].

In the first year of operation, the scheme raised some €10-12 million (£7-8 million) [ DEH], which was substantially less than anticipated. Use of lightweight plastic carrier bags fell by around 90%, with a significant increase in the use of 'bags for life ' [EuroCommerce]. Before the introduction of the levy, the expectation by retailers was that the reduction would plateau at around 95% of the consumption rate [EuroCommerce]. This level of reduction has been confirmed by the Department of Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, with revenue levels at €1 million per month. The funds have been used to support waste recycling and litter initiatives. Waste recycling infrastructure, ongoing running costs and dedicated staff to enforce legislation ( e.g. to tackle illegal dumping) have been introduced.

A survey of retailers conducted a year after the levy's introduction found that they felt the effects of the levy on them were generally positive or neutral [ UCD]. The additional costs of implementation and bookkeeping were seen as modest and, in actual fact, they were generally less than the savings that retailers were enjoying from buying fewer lightweight plastic carrier bags. After an initial rise in theft, retailers reported that it had returned to levels before the introduction of the levy. A similar survey conducted with householders of varying social and economic standing gave a consistent response - the levy was a good thing overall for the environment and was not a problem for the consumers [ UCD]. The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government plans to conduct a survey towards the end of 2005, three years after the introduction of the PlasTax.

However, concomitant with the massive drop in the numbers of shopping bags used was a significant increase in the numbers of plastic bin liners and refuse sacks purchased [ WRAP 2004a]. The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government has confirmed that their sales have trebled. This increase is believed to be a direct consequence of people changing their habit of using their shopping bags a second time as free bin liners and instead purchasing tailor-made bin liners. A study by EuroCommerce questions where the environmental benefits are to be gained from this, though it goes on to state that most shopping bags are imported from Asia while rubbish bags are manufactured in Europe [EuroCommerce]. One environmental benefit would seem to be the reduced transport and distribution of the bin bags compared with the shopping bags. There are also potential commercial benefits to the EU bin liner manufacturing industry.

The levy is not imposed on paper bags in Republic of Ireland. LCAs have shown, however, that they are the least sustainable or environmentally friendly option for carrier bags, see Appendix 3. The numbers of paper bags used in Republic of Ireland has risen, this increase is reported to be mainly in 'high street' non-food retailers. There are also reports that two bags are often used together to prevent ripping. Such behavioural patterns will ultimately lead to a higher environmental burden. However, paper bags have not replaced plastic bags (reusable or disposable) as the preferred bag of choice.

On the issue of litter, reports suggest that plastic bags make up less than 1% of the waste stream by weight in total. It is also estimated that only around 1% of all plastic bags become litter. There is no direct data to hand to state whether or not the levy has had an effect on litter, despite this being one of the key drivers for implementation [EuroCommerce]. If consumption is down by 90%, however, one can only conclude that it has.

The conclusions from the UCD study of the Irish plastics bag levy were that:

• Costs to the Government taxation system for set-up, advertising and administration are modest.
• Costs to retailers for collecting and processing the levy are also modest. They are readily subsumed into their accounting procedures and far outweighed by the money gained from buying fewer disposable bags and selling more bin liners.
• There has been a substantial reduction in the number of bags used (90%). This has resulted in a publicly perceived, but not proven, reduction in the amount of visible litter.
• There is widespread consumer support for the levy. There is no evidence that the unemployed or people on a low income feel disadvantaged by the levy.
• Awareness of environmental issues in general has been raised nationwide in Republic of Ireland.

The scheme has raised around 10% of the revenue originally anticipated due to its success in diverting the public away from using 'disposal carrier bags'.

Further to the PlasTax levy on plastic carrier bags, the Irish government plans to extend its remit to a voluntary agreement with industry to phase out polystyrene packaging from fast food in favour of biodegradable alternatives. Under the Environment Ministry's anti-litter strategy, other targets will include bank machine receipts and chewing gum. However, the introduction of compulsory levies, particularly for chewing gum, has been threatened if the voluntary agreements and measures are insufficient to achieve change. [ ENDS Daily]

France

An opinion poll of the French population in 2003 found that 50% wanted to keep free plastic bags while 47% were willing to have to pay for reusable bags. The French Retail Association and the public authorities agreed a plan to change the habits of consumers in France. In summary, this plan aims to:

• Increase consumer awareness at the point-of-sale.
• Offer alternatives such as reusable bags.
• Improve technology (recycling, degradability) and ecolabelling of bags.

Various French supermarket chains have devised their own methods for achieving these goals. These have included:

• Staff training.
• Offering reusable, biodegradable and paper bags as well as conventional plastic bags.
• Setting targets for reducing plastic bag use.
• Undertaking LCAs (Carrefour study).
• Collection of old lightweight plastic bags for recycling.
• Printing ecolabels on bags satisfying agreed criteria ( NF Environnement - the French National Ecolabel ¹).
• Offering heavy-duty reusable bags to people who spend more than €10 on goods in one transaction.

A referendum was undertaken in Corsica as to which type of bags were preferred. This offers some interesting insight into consumer preferences when faced with a cost [Eco-emballages, EuroCommerce]. People voted as follows:

• 61% for reusable bags, sold for €1 and exchangeable for free when worn out.
• 19% in favour of paper bags, sold for 8 cents.
• 13.5% in favour of biodegradable bags, sold for 5-14 cents.
• 6.4% blank vote.

In response, all plastic bags in Corsica were replaced in the summer of 2003 by reusable and paper ones.

Australia

The Australian carrier bag situation could be said to be more extreme than that in Scotland [Pringle, Reusable Bags]. Approximately 6.9 billion supermarket shopping bags are consumed each year in Australia [ DEH, RMIT]; with a population of 20,281,168 [Aus Stats], this equates to 341 bags per person per year.

The Australian Government has been considering a levy on lightweight plastic HDPE bags similar to that in Republic of Ireland, with a levy of AUS $0.25 (about £0.10) on each bag. A two-year deferral was agreed until the end of 2004 to see if voluntary reuse and charging schemes would be successful enough to reduce plastic bag consumption by 25% by the end of 2004 and then by 50% by the end of 2005. In the first six months, there was a 29% reduction in the use of lightweight plastic carrier bags [ WRAP 2004c]. Other short-term and long-term plans will be put in place, e.g. education to promote a shift to using reusable bags and to improve recycling rates. The chief aim of any levy would be to reduce litter and increase public awareness of littering and environmental issues [EuroCommerce].

Several towns in Australia ( e.g. Coles Bay in Tasmania) have introduced voluntary bans on the use of plastic bags [ NSW]. Retailers agreed with Planet Ark not to use plastic bags; instead, calico cloth bags were supplied to all residents, while visitors must pay for either a calico or a paper bag. If, for hygiene reasons, paper bags are not allowed, biodegradable starch bags are offered. Other towns are following suit.

A recent report from Nolan- ITU in Australia indicates that bag usage fell by 20.4% between 2002 and 2004 through the voluntary code of conduct agreed by retailers [Nolan- ITU]. This is broken down into supermarkets reducing usage by 25% and non-supermarket retailers reducing usage by 10-15%. However, the Australian Government is determined to continue this trend to the extent of phasing out plastic bag use completely by 2008.

Belgium

A levy was proposed in Belgium in 2004 but was resisted by the Belgian Retail Association. Its alternative proposal, which has been undertaken by Belgian retailers, was to raise the awareness of the consuming public of the need to use and dispose of lightweight plastic carrier bags responsibly and properly. Much as in France, the scheme also involves promoting and maximising reusable options as well as training staff.

Denmark

A levy has been in place in Denmark since 1994. However, it is enforced on the retailer when they buy bags rather than on the final consumer. Therefore, the costs can be absorbed in the cost of products and, as such, consumer behaviour change is not the direct target as in the Republic of Ireland. Even so, use of paper and plastic bags has fallen by two-thirds [ DEH, Reusable Bags].

Switzerland

A levy scheme already exists in Switzerland, where bags cost around 10p, but most Swiss shoppers use their own bags [Reusable Bags].

Canada

The Canadians have taken a different approach to most other nations in trying to solve the issue of plastic carrier bags. In many areas across the country, they have successfully instigated kerbside collection of all kinds of plastic films - not just carrier bags - including:

• Plastic pouches (milk, rice, soups, etc).
• Food and bread bags.
• Outer packaging for kitchen towels and toilet paper, etc.

These are collected along with other recyclable materials usually collected by municipal authorities such as glass, paper and metal [ DEH].

USA

The city of San Francisco is considering a levy of 17 cents on carrier bags, plastic and paper in order to reduce the problems of waste and litter of the 50 million or so bags used per year within the city. The aim is to encourage consumers to switch to more sustainable reusable bags and to recycle the plastic bags they do use, rather than disposing them to landfill [San Francisco Chronicle].

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, which probably has the highest use of bags per person, a scheme was implemented to encourage the reuse of bags. Retailers above a certain size are also prohibited from giving away free bags. Together, these actions are intended to educate the public on making more environmentally sensitive choices [ DEH, Reusable Bags].

Taiwan

Free lightweight plastic carrier bags have been banned from use in a phased approach since 2003. Initially, this applied to government agencies and schools, but was extended to shops and fast food outlets and finally to street food dealers. The ban has also been extended to disposable cutlery and dishes [ DEH, Eco-emballages, Reusable Bags].

South Africa

After initially wanting to ban plastic bags outright, all sides have negotiated a levy on bags, paid for by the consumer, akin to the Irish model [ DEH, Reusable Bags]. Recycling rates for plastic bags are low in South Africa, less than 1% [ FRIDGE], due to the restricted demand for recycled products and because collection is not economically viable.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka was flooded in both 1988 and 1998. An investigation found that, apart from the volume of rain, the main culprit was plastic bags that had blocked the city's drains and therefore impeded the flow of water away through the sewers to the rivers and out to sea. A ban was imposed in 2002 on all polyethene bags in the capital alone but is now being considered for nationwide implementation. [ DEH, Reusable Bags].

India

A similar situation exists in India as in Bangladesh, where littered plastic bags have caused the blockage of storm drains. To alleviate this problem, the authorities in Bombay banned the manufacture of plastic carrier bags in 2000 as well as imposing strict one month trading suspensions on any retailer caught using plastic bags [ DEH].