FactCheck: the 5p M&S plastic bag
Updated on 28 February 2008
Will bag usage at Marks & Spencer go down by 70 per cent?
The claim
"Bag usage has gone down by 70 per cent."
Stuart Rose, Marks and Spencer Chief Executive, Today programme, 28 February 2008
The background
The 13 billion plastic bags given away in British stores each year have long been held by environmental campaigners to be A Bad Thing. The disposable bags can take 1,000 years to decay, clogging up landfills and creating litter in streets.
Last year retailers agreed to reduce the environmental impact of free carrier bags by 25 per cent by the end of 2008, by methods such as encouraging recycling or reuse of bags, increasing the amount of recycled materials used in the bags, or encouraging customers to reduce the number of bags they use.
Today Marks & Spencer upped the ante, announcing it would charge 5p for carrier bags in all its food stores from 6 May. The store hopes this will reduce carrier bag use by 70 per cent.
"Just imagine if M&S customers right across the UK cut the number of food bags they use by 70 per cent - that's over 280 million bags they'd be saving every year," said Chief Executive Stuart Rose.
Imagine indeed. Or rather, let's examine the likely impact of charging for plastic bags. Is it as good for the environment as it sounds?
The analysis
Rose's hoped-for 70 per cent reduction is based on the results of local trials in Northern Ireland (since June last year) and the south west (since early this year).
These took the same form as the scheme being rolled out across the UK. Firstly, shoppers were given free, thicker, reusable "bags for life" for a month. After that, thin carrier bags cost 5p and bags for life 10p. Worn out bags are replaced free of charge.
Marks & Spencer wouldn't provide exact figures on the number of carrier bags given out under the scheme, but a spokesperson said the reduction had been pretty much instant in both pilots.
Although there were week by week fluctuations, bag use stayed low over the Christmas period, and the 70 per cent reduction was still in evidence at the end of the scheme.
This last point is worth looking at: an important consideration when imposing charges in an attempt to make behaviour more environmentally friendly is whether people will actually change their behaviour, or just put their hands in their pocket pay the extra charge.
Marks & Spencer's findings suggest its bag scheme is having the desired effect - at least, over the course of six months. But what is likely to happen further down the line?
Let's look at the example of Ireland, where a tax on plastic bags was introduced in 2002. Originally an attempt to combat litter, it meant consumers were charged 15 cents - around 11p - for plastic bags.
The effect? A 90 per cent drop in bag use, with the average person getting through 21 rather than 328 plastic bags a year. This seemed to hold steady until 2006, when it crept back up to 30 a year.
Alternatives to plastic bags, such as paper bags have different environmental impacts and aren't necessarily better.
The levy was increased to 22 cents - around 17p, and the maximum allowed under Irish law - last summer in an attempt to cut back use back. Figures are not yet available to show whether it's had the desired effect.
So does the increase in bag use show the charge becomes less effective over time? Not conclusively. An Irish government spokesperson pointed out that the figures were calculated based on the taxes received in the year.
As retailers aren't obliged to provide their receipts each year, so it's possible that the 2006 figure may include bags which were sold in earlier years, but which weren't reflected in the earlier totals.
Retail activity has also increased during the period, so some increase in bag use might be expected, anyway. And even with the increase, the 2006 figure was still vastly lower than before the scheme.
But what about the alternatives to carrier bags?
Hannah Hislop of the Green Alliance - who welcomed M&S's scheme - said it was important to encourage people to make a cultural shift towards reusing bags. Alternatives to plastic bags, such as paper bags have different environmental impacts and aren't necessarily better.
Of course, if people get used to buying bags for life each time they shop, and not reusing them, that would defeat the object of phasing out disposable bags, especially as they're made from thicker and heavier material.
In Ireland, shoppers have shifted to use reusable bags and boxes. Reusable plastic shopping bags aren't taxed, so long as they cost at least 70 cents (around 53p) for the bag.
This is a bigger price difference than in the M&S scheme, where bags for life will cost 10p, or double the price of disposable bags.
M&S's scheme has increased use of bags for life, with the store giving away "tens of thousands" of them in pilot areas. Still, pretty small fry compared to the 390 million plastic bags the store gets through in a year.
The verdict
Charging for plastic bags does seem to have reduced their use in both Ireland and M and S. Getting rid of the disposable habit completely is something that will take more work - both on the part of shops or the government, and the part of shoppers.
The sources
M&S To Roll-Out Charging For Food Carrier Bags Across UK, 27 February 2008
Today programme, BBC
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Ireland, Plastic Bags Levy to be increased to 22c from 1 July 07, 21 February 2007Local environmental quality: Plastic bags, Defra
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