The Welsh Carrier Bag Charge - Useful Information

Picture by digitalart

As many of you will already know, the Welsh Government is introducing a carrier-bag charge in Wales this Saturday, 1st October 2011. Many people are still confused about this - I've been on their website today to find out more. Here are the facts:

• You will be charged for all single-use carrier bags (i.e. not just plastic ones).
• You will be charged at least 5p per bag.
• You will be charged at every retail outlet in Wales.
• You will be charged for bags when you order goods online regardless of where the delivery is from.

Retailers are not required to charge for these bags:

• Cotton bags
• Jute bags
• Cloth bags
• Hessian bags
• Thick plastic bags for life
• Prescription bags
• Re-used single-use carrier bags

Retailers are not required to charge for single-use carrier bags if it contains:

• Unwrapped or partly unwrapped food
• Loose seeds, bulbs, corms or rhizomes
• Unpackaged blades
• Unpackaged plants or flowers that could have been contaminated by soil
• Packaged, uncooked meat, fish or poultry products

The above items alone must be put into a carrier bag for it to be free. If you put in another item that was not exempt then you would have to pay for the bag.

Other exempt bags include:

• Live aquatic creatures in water (goldfish etc)
• Bags that are sealed before the point of sale (deli counter)
• On board ships, trains, aircraft, coaches or buses
• In airports, after you pass security
• Mail order bags
• Small , flat paper bags (175mm x 260mm) without handles
• Very small plastic bags (125mm x 125mm)
• Small 3D paper bags (80mm x 50mm x 155mm)
• Gusseted box liners

Retailers that employ more than 10 people will be required by law to keep an honest and accurate account of the number of bags sold and the gross amount received from those sales.

The Welsh Government CANNOT tell retailers what to do with the proceeds, meaning retailers can keep the profit for themselves.

They have instead provided a voluntary agreement which advises retailers to pass on their gains to good causes, particularly environmental causes or local initiatives.

If you are worried about where the proceeds from the carrier bag charges are going I would suggest speaking to the individual retailers.

I would think that a good retailer will openly advertise (by means of a poster etc) where the proceeds of the carrier bag charge are going.

What are your thoughts on the carrier bag charge? Will it encourage you to reuse your bags? Where would you like the proceeds of the charge to go?