Welsh Government
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Campaign to cut single use carrier bags in Wales underway
The bi-lingual campaign – ‘Get Carried Away’ - aims to encourage people to re-use their single use carrier bags and help them remember to take their bags with them when they go shopping.
Alongside radio adverts, there is a website aimed at consumers and retailers. The first 1,000 people who register with the site will receive a re-usable bag. Hundreds of people have registered their support for the campaign in the first week, with more coming in each day.
The Welsh Assembly Government fully supports the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) efforts to reduce single-use carrier bags but wants Wales to go a step further.
Environment, Sustainability & Housing Minister Jane Davidson said:
“People are more aware of this issue than ever before, but each year Wales still uses an estimated 480 million plastic bags. It takes between 500 and 1,000 years for these bags to degrade. We simply cannot go on like this.
“We are calling on people to re-use bags whenever they go out shopping. By taking this simple step we can make a huge difference to the environmental damage we are inflicting on our planet. Single use carrier bags are not usually bio-degradable and are a waste of resources. Customers have come to expect free plastic bags at checkouts, but the tide appears to be turning as shoppers look for more environmentally-friendly options.”
Keep Wales Tidy Chief Executive, Tegryn Jones commented:
“We welcome any initiative that will lead to the single use of plastic bags coming to an end. Our surveys show that plastic bags account for 2.7 per cent of litter by weight. We should all strive to create a clean safe and tidy Wales.”
In February, the Welsh Assembly Government became the first administration in the UK to start work on legislation to end the use of free single use plastic bags.
Ms Davidson added:
“As a Minister I have always stated that I do not support the use of one-trip plastic bags.
“I have asked my department to develop legislation to end the use of single use carrier bags. Currently there is a voluntary agreement where certain retailers have agreed to reduce the number of single use carrier bags by 50 per cent - this is a good target.
“But this does not cover all retailers and still leaves 50 per cent using one trip plastic bags. I recognise we need to give the retail sector a chance to demonstrate what they can do voluntarily, but I am willing to use all the powers at our disposal.”
Plastic bag facts:
- UK consumers took home an estimated 9.9 billion carrier bags in 2008, equivalent to 400 bags per household
- Wales used around 480 million bags last year
- Plastic bags account for 2.7 per cent of litter by weight (Keep Wales Tidy survey figures)
- The estimated cost of removing this specific litter is £1m annually. All litter removal costs Wales annually £37million
- Plastic bags account for 2.1 per cent of all litter found on beaches
Related Links
http://wales.gov.uk/campaigns/more/helpreduce/?lang=en
