New 5p plastic bag levy to fund dementia research

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
I've never understood the fuss about the new 5p levy on supermarket plastic bags. According to the Daily Fail there will be chaos at the tills. But we've had this system in Germany successfully for decades. LIDL in England has been charging for plastic bags for a long time. You can easily avoid being charged by bringing your own bags or a shopping trolley. But if you have to fork out for a bag or two, don't despair. Know you are doing it for a great course, and that course is a dementia research facility in London.
Now we just need to get Tesco to sign up too as every little helps!

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...arkets-plastic-bag-proceeds-dementia-fund-ucl

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...g-charge-to-ucl-dementia-centre-a3082876.html
 

Tears Falling

Registered User
Jul 8, 2013
637
0
All the stores do it up here. Tesco as well. I keep a bag in my bag at all times.....it's so easy and really doesn't impact on the shopper at all. you forget your bags from time to time but can still purchase as needed.
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
73,996
0
72
Dundee
As TF says we've had this system in Scotland for a while now. No chaos ensued!
 

Tin

Registered User
May 18, 2014
4,820
0
UK
I have no problem with this charge, on the odd occasion when I have forgotten to take my own bags in to supermarket, after paying I have put everything back in the trolley and unloaded all in the back of my car. What I want to know is, when are we going to tackle the problem of cans, plastic bottles and industrial style plastic bags littering our pathways, grass verges and fields. Remember reading an article last year about a particular area of an ocean where all kinds of plastic ends up and how upsetting it was to see how it was effecting the marine and bird life
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,050
0
Salford
I don't quite understand all this, currently Aldi and Lidl (for example) charge me for bags and they keep the money which must add up to a god few quid over a year, are they now going to be made to give the money to charity? If so who decides which charity, they're both based in Germany can they give the money to a German charity?
It's interesting that the government has decided they'll keep the 0.83 pence out of the 5p bag price as it's VAT so surely the supermarket could justify keeping the cost of buying and supplying the bags to the public. Exactly how much will the charities see out of this and which charities will it be, anyone know what happens in Wales or Scotland like which charities benefit and who decides?
K
 

sleepless

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
3,223
0
The Sweet North
I always re-use all plastic carrier bags as bin liners. It seems better to do this than buy a purpose-made bin liner that only gets used once. My home delivery comes in plastic bags and I won't mind paying for them, both for the reason above, and because the money will go to a good cause.
Same in the garden -- I keep all compost bags and use them over and over until they eventually degrade and tear. I don't think my generation (born mid-fifties) and earlier, will ever be comfortable with waste.
Having said that, I used to think disposable wipes were wasteful (what's wrong with a bucket of soapy water and a cloth?) until I had to cope with my husband's incontinence. It does bother me thinking of all the tons of pads, wipes etc going to landfill, but I would not like to manage without them.
 

jimbo 111

Registered User
Jan 23, 2009
5,080
0
North Bucks
Ah!
what you ladies North of the border didn't take ino account was that your scheme is straightforward 5p bag
What we are lumbered with in England is a mish-mash of regulations that civil servants have been poring over for months , committee's etc to define the regulations
My comments

for many years I have used my plastic bags as pedal bin liners , no cost, none thrown away
As it would now cost me 35p a week ( 40 p minimum because I get my groceries on the internet ) I will have to start buying proper pedal bin liners at about 1-2 p a bag
But I had my own little episode this morning
Paid 10p ( for 2 bags of shopping )
And when I was putting shopping in the car one of them burst with the corner of an egg box
With tongue in cheek I went back into the shop and told them I was going to report them to Trading Standards because they were selling goods ' not fit for purpose '
with a chuckle I was given back my 10p and a handful of shopping bags
and told not to try it again
Not a bad start to the first day
jimbo
 

sleepless

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
3,223
0
The Sweet North
Ah!
what you ladies North of the border didn't take ino account was that your scheme is straightforward 5p bag
What we are lumbered with in England is a mish-mash of regulations that civil servants have been poring over for months , committee's etc to define the regulations
My comments

for many years I have used my plastic bags as pedal bin liners , no cost, none thrown away
As it would now cost me 35p a week ( 40 p minimum because I get my groceries on the internet ) I will have to start buying proper pedal bin liners at about 1-2 p a bag
But I had my own little episode this morning
Paid 10p ( for 2 bags of shopping )
And when I was putting shopping in the car one of them burst with the corner of an egg box
With tongue in cheek I went back into the shop and told them I was going to report them to Trading Standards because they were selling goods ' not fit for purpose '
with a chuckle I was given back my 10p and a handful of shopping bags
and told not to try it again
Not a bad start to the first day
jimbo

Cheeky!
 

grove

Registered User
Aug 24, 2010
7,714
0
North Yorkshire
Green Charity TOKENS ! ! !

Hello Everybody , am another member*** who can not understand all the fuss** For at least ? 4 year's or more have all ways taken my own bag or bags *** AND what encouraged me too do so ( partly ) was W..........Rose allow you too take a Charity Token according too how many of your own bags you have ! 3 Local Charities have a box ( information about each charity written on the Box ) The Store match the value of each token & the Box with the most tokens** is awarded over £100 ? ( sorry not sure ) & the 2 other Charities also is also given a smaller amount The Tokens are a very good idea ! :)


The Yorkshire Store A**A also do the same system which is good :) Just wish more of the BIG 3 or 4 Supermarkets would do the same ! ! ! The A**A store were very good & my Local Support Group got the most tokens in ( one year ) The Group offer support too my Dad & Carer Mum**


Just too add the W I have been trying too stop the use of plastic bags for ages ! & encourage us too use our own Bags ( so it stops the plastic bag waste etc )


Grove x
 

LynneMcV

Volunteer Moderator
May 9, 2012
6,112
0
south-east London
I don't know what the fuss is about either. I started using my own bags 4 or 5 years ago now. To be honest, I didn't even realise until the past few days that England hadn't been charging for them until now - I've always known the charging was on the way, I just assumed it had arrived long ago :)

Actually, I'm not the only one who 'started early' either. I would say that the majority of shoppers in the supermarket when I do my weekly shop use their own bags too.
 

CynthsDaugh

Registered User
May 5, 2015
139
0
Salford, Lancashire
I'm all for the charge - 25 odd years ago when one of the large supermarkets had a choice of paper bags or plastic I always went for paper.

Have a horrible thought that one of my older (80s) neighbours is going to cause a scene in the local supermarket - adamant she isn't going to pay and will insist they must give her bags if she's bought food there or she will just walk away and go somewhere else. She reckons it's a money making scheme by the shops - I can't get it through to her that it's not their choice but the government is telling them they have to charge and will be the same almost everywhere else she goes!
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,050
0
Salford
Tesco's bags are now thicker and so much stronger. Obviously using more plastic to make one bag.

It might be that because bags over 70 microns thick are exempt from the charge (in England), they can charge you for the bag and keep the money, just a thought.
K
Edit, it's the thicker bags that are exempt, I put it the wrong way round
 
Last edited:

Pickles53

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
2,474
0
Radcliffe on Trent
Thanks for the sensible comments on here. I can't understand why people are making such a fuss about the charge. Nobody needs to pay a penny if they don't want to. We have been using the same 4 'bags for life' for our supermarket shopping since 2009.

Perhaps it's because TPers have real problems to think about?
 

Onlyme

Registered User
Apr 5, 2010
4,992
0
UK
I'm not sure if this is still correct but years ago in the sales of goods act if a store offers you or you pay for a service (a bag) it has to be fit for purpose. If the bag splits and your shopping is damaged you would be in your rights to demand that shop replaces the broken goods because their service (bag) was defective.

It would be interesting to find out if that still stands.

Edit. On reflection this would be why it is 1p tax and 4 charity donation. It's not a paid for service.
 
Last edited:

lin1

Registered User
Jan 14, 2010
9,350
0
East Kent
It doesn't bother me either way really.
I have my shopping delivered in plastic bags because it is easier for us to carry bags in rather than those crates.
Like others here, I reuse them either for shopping or bin liners
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
AND what encouraged me too do so ( partly ) was W..........Rose allow you too take a Charity Token according too how many of your own bags you have ! 3 Local Charities have a box ( information about each charity written on the Box ) The Store match the value of each token & the Box with the most tokens** is awarded over £100 ? ( sorry not sure ) & the 2 other Charities also is also given a smaller amount The Tokens are a very good idea !

Grove, I obviously can't speak for your store but our Waitrose has been doing this for years, the number of tokens given decided by the amount one spends.
Asda have done the same.
Both have been giving the tokens along with offering any number of free plastic bags you might want!

I do take the long-life bags to supermarkets but confess I occasionally forget and leave them in the car.
I too re-use any plastic bags I have as bin liners, in fact with fortnightly bin collections, the council tells us to do this.
Now I will return to the car to collect the bags and will use bin liners bought on a roll for the bin (though I do use doubled over charity bags too!)
They are all still plastic bags.
Oue local village Co-operative convenience shop doesn't have to abide by the new regualtions apparantly but is doing so and the bags they are selling are biodegradable.
Surely that is what all the plastic bags sold by stores should be.

p.s. I love your quick thinking Jimbo! I find even the thicker plastic bags for life pretty short on life too!
 

jimbo 111

Registered User
Jan 23, 2009
5,080
0
North Bucks
I get a little confused with all this talk about plastic bags taking hundreds of years to decompose
For many years now I have had to permanently carry folded plastic shopping bags ( emergency incontinence aid while out ) so all my outdoor coats have several in the pockets
If I leave them in my pocket too long (Say 2 months + Summer into winter ,when changing clothes , )I invariably find that the bag has started to disintegrate
jimbo
 

sleepless

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
3,223
0
The Sweet North
I find that sunlight degrades them very quickly. I keep some in the greenhouse and unless kept out of sunlight they crumble into tiny bits when I touch them. I would think that deep in landfill, dark and wet, they must last a long time.
Now jimbo, how do you manage to get sunlight in your coat pockets? Or perhaps your coat is hung near a radiator and it's the warmth that does it?
 

ellejay

Registered User
Jan 28, 2011
4,019
0
Essex
If I leave them in my pocket too long (Say 2 months + Summer into winter ,when changing clothes , )I invariably find that the bag has started to disintegrate
jimbo

That reminds me of the time my SiL tried to get her Christmas Decs from the loft & pulled out two handles and a fringe :D

Lin x
 

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