Break the Bag Habit!
MCS among leading NGOs joining forces to break England
Join the campaign to bring in a plastic bag charge in England!
MCS has joined The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Keep Britain Tidy and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) to call for a charge on single-use bags in
The four organisations have formed the Break the Bag Habit campaign calling on Westminster to reduce litter and waste by requiring retailers to introduce a small charge on all single-use bags.
Wales already has one, Northern Ireland is introducing one in 2012 and Scotland is consulting on the matter. Come on England!! Don’t get left behind.
How can you help?
You can help put pressure on Westminster to introduce a charge and reduce bag litter in our countryside and in our seas by writing to your MP and/or the media. Take action now:
Download a letter to send to your MP
Why are we asking for a bag charge in England?
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Over the past two years, the number of carrier bags used in England has increased despite repeated Government calls for retailers to reduce the numbers they give out.
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Last year businesses in the UK issued plastic bags at a rate of 254 a second. A total of eight billion ‘thin-gauge’ plastic bags were issued during 2011 - a 5.4 per cent increase on the 7.6 billion bags issued in 2010 [1].
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In Wales since the introduction of the 5p charge in October 2011, there have been falls of between 70% and 96% in the number of single-use bags issued. Public support in Wales for this charge has also grown to 70 per cent [2].
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When Ireland introduced a plastic bag charge in 2002, plastic bag use fell by 90 per cent [3]. Before this charge was introduced, plastic bags made up five per cent of visible litter in Ireland - afterwards, it dropped to 0.32 per cent [4].
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Last year MCS found 4,092 bags on beaches in one weekend alone accounting for 2.2% of all litter with an average density of 45.1 bags for every km surveyed.
- In 2011 David Cameron said about this issue: “Progress overall went backwards last year, and that is unacceptable. Retailers need to do better. I want to see significant falls again. I know that retailers want to do better too but if they don’t I will be asking them to explain why not [5].”
Single use bags and plastic bags in particular are a menace to the amazing marine wildlife found in English waters. Animals get entangled in them and mistake them for food. This can lead to infections, strangulation, starvation and even death. A charge is a simple, effective way to stop such a pervasive and ubiquitous form of pollution.
[1] WRAP, New figures on carrier bags use, 5 July 2012, http://bit.ly/Mk80Iy
[2] Welsh Government, Written Statement – ‘An update on the single use carrier bags charge in Wales’, 4 July 2012, http://bit.ly/LbTJHz
[3] Irish Government, ‘Plastic Bag Levies: The Irish Experience’, 22 November 2011, http://bit.ly/LLoObt
[4] See [2]
[5] Daily Mail 29 September 2011, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043014/David-Cameron-warns-supermarkets-Cut-plastic-bags-forced-charge.html
