The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment (RACCE) Committee has approved draft regulations on carrier bag charges in the country.

Charge background

The charge was first announced by Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead in June 2013. The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 [draft], which were formally laid in the Scottish Parliament on 3 April 2014 (after a 90 day formal consultation period), will require all Scottish retailers to charge a minimum of five pence per single-use bag from 20 October 2014 in a bid to reduce the 750 million bags used in Scotland each year.

However, the charge is not a tax, as money raised from the levy will not be going back to government. Instead, retailers are expected to donate net proceeds (estimated by the Scottish Government to be ‘up to £5 million a year’) to ‘good causes’.

The charge will apply to single-use bags of any material, not just plastic, and all retailers will be required to charge customers for using them, not just supermarkets. However, smaller businesses will be exempt from the requirement to report the numbers of bags sold and how much of the levy they have given to charity. Instead, these businesses will be expected to publish some form of public statement of this information on their premises, such as a poster.

Under the regulations, some forms of single-use bag will be exempt from the levy – mainly for health and safety and privacy – such as bags for prescriptions, certain fresh foods (including fruit and unpackaged meat or fish) and unpackaged blades.

The Scottish Government has estimated that the charge could yield a net benefit of around £90 million over the forecast period of 15 years, after accounting for the individual impacts for all players.

As a result of the charge, the reduction in the use of carrier bags is expected to cut overall costs to the environment by £11 million per annum.

RACCE Committee recommendations

The RACCE Committee approved the draft regulations yesterday (21 May) after considering written evidence from stakeholders and hearing from Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead. The committee is now recommending Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) approve the draft regulations.

In the report on the subordinate legislation, released today (22 May), the RACCE Committee writes: ‘At its meeting on 21 May, the Committee took evidence on the Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 [draft] from – Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, and Peter Stapleton, Policy Manager – Waste Prevention, Scottish Government.

‘Following the evidence session, Richard Lochhead moved the motion S4M-10052 – That the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee recommends that the Committee took evidence on the Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 [draft] be approved.

‘The motion was agreed to (by division: For 8, Against 1, Abstentions 0).’

‘Making small changes to our everyday behaviour can make a big difference’

Welcoming the decision, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“I am delighted that the Scottish Government’s draft regulations on carrier bag charges have been endorsed by the parliament's environment committee.

“This is landmark legislation that sends a clear message that Scotland is serious about tackling litter, reducing waste and creating a cleaner environment.

“Making small changes to our everyday behaviour can make a big difference to the environment. By requiring retailers to charge at least 5p per bag we want shoppers to stop and think about what we discard and, instead of taking another bag that could end up as litter, to avoid the charge by reusing their bags or consider alternatives.”

He added that as similar measures have had success in other countries (the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that the amount of single-use bags issued in Wales in 2012 dropped by 76 per cent on 2011 levels after the country’s plastic bag levy was launched in 2011), he was “confident the charge will work well in Scotland”.

He went on to urge “everyone to get behind it”.

All of the countries in the UK now either have a bag levy, or have plans to introduce one, after the UK Government announced that England is to see its own charge in autumn 2015.

Read more about the bag charges in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales.