Retailers step up campaign against plastic bag tax plans

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and the Carrier Bag Consortium (CBC) said the proposed 10p levy was an administrative nightmare and would increase waste. The Executive will today publish a report into the plans, raised in the Plastic Bag Levy (Scotland) Bill by the Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle.

An Executive spokeswoman declined to comment on its contents in advance. However, the CBC claimed the report stated that a switch to paper bags from plastic would lead to an extra 5,400 tonnes of waste going to landfill sites, with the potential to degrade into carbon dioxide and methane.

It was also claimed that the report found the move might result in 700 jobs being lost and that councils had concerns about the tax collection.

The CBC's chairman, Barry Turner, said that the report commissioned by the Executive had reached "robust conclusions" on the environmental impact of introducing the tax "in the face of emotive misinformation and political spin, which has described plastic carrier bags as a menace".

The SRC's director, Fiona Moriarty, added: "The [report] offers little justification for a plastic bag tax.

"The Scotland scheme is flawed and we are not convinced that it delivers genuine environmental benefits."

She added: "The introduction of a levy on carriers will unfairly penalise the innovative steps being made towards the manufacture of bags from recycled plastics or using biodegradable plastics."

An Executive spokeswoman said it had not yet taken a position on the bill.

She added: "Our message to consumers is straightforward: re-use bags."

Mr Pringle claimed the tax would allow councils to spend money raised on local environmental improvements.