Plastic Bag Levy

12.02.46pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 15th May 2003

Dee Doocey, Liberal Democrat Prospective GLA Candidate

Local Liberal Democrat campaigners led by Dee Doocey, are calling for the introduction of a plastic bag levy as a way to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags.

Windblown, discarded bags in hedges and trees are a common eyesore along Twickenham's Riverside towpath. An amazing eight billion plastic bags are given away each year in Britain. This works out at 134 bags per person.

Many are thrown away and end up in landfill sites where - Friends of the Earth claim - they take 1,000 years to decompose naturally.

Dee Doocey said: "Imposing a tax of 9p per bag on carrier bags should stop this waste. Supermarkets and shops would charge customers and the money raised could then be used on schemes to improve the environment".

"Such a levy has been introduced in the Republic of Ireland with dramatic results. Customers have been very positive about switching to re-usable bags and one major supermarket estimates that their distribution of plastic bags has dropped by over 90%".