Carrier Bag Levy Now Being Charged in Retail Outlets

Primark’s Bank Buildings Store inxa0Castle Street in Belfast and the debate about the levy will rumble on.xa0 Down District Council’s Reusable Bag With Giveaway You will now be charged at least 5p for new single use carrier bags whenever you shop. [caption id="attachment_37695" align="alignleft" width="390"] Barry Treacy, Joe Parkes and Lucinda White show off the reusable bags that Down District Council are giving away to shoppers.[/caption] Down District Council Chairperson Councillor Mickey Coogan said: “To raise awareness of the new tax, the Council have 200 reusable bags to giveaway to householders. For your opportunity to carry away a long-life bag, pick up goodies and get advice about the new tax, visit the following supermarkets next week: “Monday 15xa0April at Tescos, Newcastle from 10am – 4pm; Tuesday 16 April at Supervalu, Ballynahinch from 10am – 4pm; and Friday 19xa0April at ASDA, Downpatrick from 10am – 4pm. “The aim is to help protect the environment by reducing the 160 million plastic bags that are used in the region every year. The majority of these end up in landfill, or even worse as litter in the environment. Evidence from other countries demonstrates that a bag levy is a simple and effective means to reduce substantially the negative environmental impact of carrier bag consumption. It is anticipated that we will all finally begin to actually use those cloth bags that many of us have stored at home.” NIIRTA Say Bag Levy is a Stealth Tax on Small Retailers The introduction of the carrier bag levy has caused concern among in the retail sector. With today (Monday 8thxa0April) seeing the introduction of the Carrier Bag Levy, the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA) has expressed major concerns over the scheme but has pledged to work with the DOE on its implementation. NIIRTA Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said:xa0“While we have major concerns with the Carrier Bag Levy we will work with the DOE to ensure that its implementation causes minimum disruption to our members. “NIIRTA shares Minister Attwood’s objective of reducing the amount of carrier bags in circulation and that end up in landfill sites” “We believe that sensible changes to the scheme, such as capping it at 5p, letting retailers distribute the levy proceeds to local charities as is the case in Wales and dropping some of the ridiculously high fines should be made. “We are concerned that the collecting and administration of the levy may pose a real burden on our members and we will be closely monitoring this over the next few months. “This is the wrong stealth tax at the wrong time. During this recession small retailers should be focused on running their shops rather than tax collecting for the DOE. This will also add to the burden of hard working families who will have to pay for this. “A better course of action would have been to encourage and educate consumers to reuse and recycle carrier bags as many of our members were doing, rather than slapping a tax on them.”

xa0Attwood Launches Bag Levy