5p for a carrier bag
 

Excess baggage: will the 5p charge finally kill the plastic bag? | Environment | The Guardian

From 05/10/15,as part of a 'Gov initiative' :rolleyes:,folk will be charged a extra 5p for a carrier bag at supermarkets etc.
Being a tight sod,and not buying a bag for life,I'm not happy paying for a bag to take my purchases home in.

It's not so much about cost, it's the principal of it.
Your not telling me them crap bags that most folk have to double up on (now costing 10p) cost 5p,do they?
If,like myself, you buy a trolley full of shopping at the supermarket, you obviously need bags to carry it home etc.....



....I for one don't expect to have to pay extra just to take my purchase(s) home that's all I'm saying :D

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

lol your gonna get it from the people who think the planet needs saving

personally i wouldnt mind paying for a carrier bag if they were fit for purpose

give me a 1980's plazzy bag and i will happily pay 5p , them ones you could use as a school bag all week and doubled up as a sledge in winter and still didnt break.These new wafer thin ones are a joke

surely i cant be the only one that remembers slapping an asda carrier bag between their legs and hurling down a snowy hill ?

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

We had the deluxe "Black bin bags"! :D

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

Don't forget that the bags are replaced for free when required at Tesco, so there is only an initial cost to pay.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

The new law doesn't apply to small businesses so we might sell them at 2p to undercut the big boys :)

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

If you try slapping an Asda carrier bag between your legs do go downhill now your gonna end up with a sore bum... :)

A bag for life at Asda costs 6p, this will be replaced FOC when damaged.

And what will happen to the old bags - they will be chucked in the compactor and sent to landfill.

Best to checkup on the situations when your not going to be charged just in case someone at the till has not had the correct training.
And beware putting non exempt items in with exempt items.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-...sponsibilities

And at the supermarkets, where they have those big bins for you to put your old bags, are they going to get smaller now? Can someone who has forgotten theirs go and get some out of the reuse bin? lol

I have carried bags to the supermarket for the past few years so it won't make any difference to me except where I need to put food in to keep it separate from other stuff.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

It will teach me to remember we got shopping bags in boot of car, which usually i forget, not a big deal at all imho.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

It's a good job it's not about the cost, because 5p is a massive markup on what plastic bags cost to make. The "reasonable costs" for the scheme go to the retailer, and they are expected to donate the remainder to charity.

You pay for your bags already. The cost is hidden in the price of the goods you buy. It's so small (per item) it's not noticeable. This scheme is about trying to reduce the number of bags we use.

Not only do bags use an irreplaceable resource in their manufacture (oil) they take forever to decompose. The figure is often given as 500 years, but that's just a euphemism for "we don't know but it's a very long time". Modern plastic bags break down through exposure to ultraviolet light, so the ones you see flapping about in trees will decompose eventually. The ones that go into landfill will probably never break down.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

My on-line grocer Ocado is charging 5p per bag in accordance with the new law, but will refund 5p each for any bags handed to their driver. This includes bags from ANY supermarket.

So last week's bags pay for this weeks bags - seems reasonable.

They have always accepted bag returns and recycle them by shredding and remaking them.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

i reckon i could reverse my car through the automatic doors at asda up to checkout 1 :D

accy tesco may be bit more of a challenge :(

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

The answer, Jason....is very very simple. Make sure you have a bag with you.
There has been a move to reduce reliance on plastic bags for a long time now.....surely you have got the message.
I have several re-usable bags in my roomy handbag.
If you buy something wet(meat or fish) you will get a bag at no cost.....but if you put anything else in it you will be charged 5pence.
This money will not go to the retailer to swell their profits. It will go to charities....so if by some mad chance I run out of bags, I will be happy to pay the 5p.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

Who's to say the retailer won't pocket the 5p

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

They are allowed to pocket the cost of the bag, but 5 pence is in excess of what the carriers cost the retailer and they will donate the rest to charity...how this will be policed I have no idea, but I think that most retailers will want to trumpet the good causes they support by telling us how much they have given, and to which good causes.
After all it is very good Google Page Ranking.
In Wales they have been charging for Carrier bags for quite a long time......and folk have got used to it....most having their own bags with them. I have even seen a shopper give a used plastic carrier to someone who hadn't one with them.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

So it would seem to be working in its purpose to cut down on the number of plastic bags which litter the countryside and can be harmful to animals.

Re: 5p for a carrier bag
 

I wheel trolley to the checkout, put the stuff on the belt, put it back in the trolley wheel it to the car and put the shopping in boxes in the boot. When I get home, I take the boxes out of the car and empty them in the kitchen, then put them back in the car.