Carrier bag cheats short-change charities

Policing the law is being left to trust. Picture: John Devlin

The charge, which came in yesterday, will see a 5p levy – whether it is made of thin plastic, paper or biodegradable materials. The vast majority of the charge is earmarked to be donated to charity, although there is no legal requirement for retailers to do so.

Environmental campaigners have welcomed the new legislation ,as preventing millions of bags from ending up in landfill.

But major stores admitted they are unable to police self-service checkouts and will rely on “trust” in the customer to volunteer the number of bags they have opted to take and pay for.

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Meanwhile, it has emerged that smaller shops and businesses employing fewer than ten staff do not have to keep a legal record of their carrier bag charges, meaning council trading standards officers – responsible for policing the new regulations – would have to ensure compliance.

However, it is not expected that trading standards will carry out undercover operations testing the implementation of the new law – instead responding reactively to consumer complaints.

Retail experts also warned that they did not believe trading standards had the resources to ensure that the rules are complied with across the board, resulting in less cash being passed on to charitable organisations.

Peter Woodall, spokesman for the Carrier Bag Consortium, which fought the legislation, said he was aware that many smaller shops in places which already have a similar charge, such as Ireland, do not comply with the rules.

He added: “Who will be policing this? The same applies to self-service checkouts – they will have to rely on their customers doing the right thing.”

At most self-service machines, customers are asked to input how many bags they have used and an extra charge is added to their bill.

Scottish Conservative environment spokesman Jamie McGrigor said: “This is going to be impossible to police, impossible to enforce and impossible to ensure it’s operated fairly.

“Shops with self-service checkouts may find particular difficulty. People will view security guards monitoring the plastic bag tax instead of shoplifters as a particular waste of resources.”

A report out earlier this year from VoucherCodesPro.co.uk found that one in five people already admits to stealing from self-service tills – either intentionally or because they found an item too time-consuming or frustrating to scan.

A spokesman for Tesco, which expects to generate up to £1.5 million for its charity partner Keep Scotland Beautiful in the coming year, said: “We have trust in our customers.”

A spokesman for Morrisons said that 3p from every bag would be donated straight to charity. He added: “We do not anticipate customers attempting to unfairly avoid incurring the charge.”

Fiona Richardson, chief officer at Trading Standards Scotland, said the organisation – which is currently under pressure due to low staffing levels and squeezed budgets – would respond to consumer complaints rather than actively policing the regulations.

An Audit Scotland report last year noted that the long-term viability of trading standards services was “under threat” due to a lack of resources.

Leigh Sparks, professor of retail studies at the University of Stirling, said he believed the law would become “self-regulated”, comparing it with the success of the smoking ban.

Shoppers give mixed reaction to bag charge

SHOPPERS in the centre of the Scottish capital had a mixed reaction to the new rules.

Teacher Liz Angus from Ayr bought some food at Marks & Spencer in Edinburgh, where she had paid for her bag – and also spent 5p on a second bag from the Body Shop.

She said: “The M&S bag is very thick and good quality so I don’t mind paying. But it’s a bit much for the ones which really are one use. I’ll probably end up buying bags every time. When you add 5p to the amount you pay in the supermarkets, it doesn’t seem too bad.”

Tourists Sandy Thomson and Nancy Church from Vancouver, Canada, had paid for their plastic bag when souvenir shopping on the Royal Mile. “We have the same thing back home, so we don’t mind,” they said. “Usually you just get used to taking a bag with you wherever you go.”

But outside Sainsbury’s at St Andrew Square, waiter Sam Gibson was less impressed. “I had some other shopping so I just crammed some food I bought in there with it,” he said. “But it is a bit rubbish. I can’t believe I’ll have to do the same when I’m clothes shopping.”

Irene Reedie was just leaving work at chemist Boots on Princes Street, where those picking up prescriptions – an exempt item – are allowed a free of charge bag, but only if they do not place other items bought in the store in the same bag.

“I’ve been dealing with explaining the charge to people all day,” she said. “There are some tiny parts of the legislation which make it difficult for us – for example, if we’re offering a gift bag as part of a cosmetics promotion, we now have to charge customers for the bag.

Free bags for medicine, fruit and veg

WHILE all kinds of carrier bags – including plastic, paper or biodegradable materials – are subject to the charge, there are a number of exempt items.

Those picking up a prescription at a pharmacy are allowed a free bag – but only if they do not use it to carry any other items they may have bought from the pharmacy.

Therefore, a customer picking up an extra packet of paracetamol or bottle of shampoo alongside their prescription medication, should technically be charged the 5p levy if they use the bag to carry both.

Unpackaged food such as loose fruit and vegetables,  bakery items, pick-and-mix sweets and dry animal food are entitled to a free bag – but it would usually be of the flimsy kind found in fruit and veg aisles. The same applies for raw meat, even if contained in shrink-wrap packaging.

Unpackaged loose seeds or bulbs, including root ginger, are allowed a complementary bag, as is any unpackaged axe, knife, knife blade or razor blades – and unpackaged goods contaminated by soil, such as soil, compost, potted plants or fishing bait.

Regulations say it is the responsibility of the seller to ensure that bags are used solely to contain the exempt items, by, the Scottish Government suggests, supplying only a bag of exactly the right size.

Small paper bags without a handle, for small items such as greeting cards, loose haberdashery or pick-and-mix sweets are also allowed free of charge.

Travellers, too, have an easier ride. There is no obligation to charge for single-use carrier bags on board ships, trains, aircraft, coaches or buses – while this bag does not have to be used solely to contain purchases made on board the vehicle.

Certain specialist bags are also exempt, including mail order or courier bags and bags used to transport live fish.