Bags of waste

Published on 27/06/2012 00:00

THE Scottish Government has already spent, in 2005-7, an estimated £2 million plus of taxpayers money “consulting” the issue of charging for carrier bags during an ill-conceived attempt to introduce a bill which was unanimously rejected by the then environment committee on the grounds that the negative unintended consequences on Scotland’s environment, as waste findings and transportation far outweighed any perceived benefits (Letters, 25 June).

With the latest waste in Scotland reported at 20 million tonnes a year, which includes over a million tonnes of paper and an estimated 750,000 tonnes of waste food, where is the sense, other than headline seeking, in the government “consulting” again on reintroducing a measure, which at best, would address a plastic product which generates less than 5,000 tonnes, a significant portion of which is already recycled into fresh carrier bags and black bin sack, and represents a duplication of cost to the taxpayer which under any circumstance cannot be justified.

I urge Zero Waste Scotland and every MSP to revisit the vast volumes of recorded information and the conclusions reached by the all-party environment committee in their prior two-year deliberations when they unanimously rejected the bill, and instead of wasting time and money, concentrate on dealing with the 20 million tonnes of waste now being generated.

J Neil Young

Ewing Walk

Glasgow