Lib Dems back 'plastic bag tax'
The Lib Dems want retailers to cut packaging waste
Wednesday, 19, Sep 2007 01:15
Liberal Democrat activists today voted in favour of measures designed to cut excess packaging, with grassroots members urging the party's leadership to consider the introduction of a 'plastic bag tax'.
At the party's annual conference in Brighton delegates supported a motion which would force the UK's supermarkets to take back unwanted packaging and encourage consumers to re-use plastic shopping bags in order to reduce land fill waste.
Under a deposit scheme proposed by the party's leadership retailers would be required to charge customers for the plastic bags they issued to them, refunding their money once the bags were returned.
However Lib Dem activists voted in support of an amendment to the motion which compels the party's parliamentary leaders to consider the introduction of a levy on plastic bags, with a similar scheme having been in operation in Ireland since 2002.
In addition the party believes that a new national body should be created with the power to prosecute large-scale producers of excess packaging.
It also wants manufacturers and retailers to be subject to binding packaging reduction targets, claiming the government has failed to meet targets set out under European legislation.
According to the Liberal Democrats UK households currently produce around 26 million tonnes of waste each year, of which five million tonnes is packaging.
The party claims that, as such, packaging amounts to around 17 per cent of the average household food budget.
Speaking on the BBC's Breakfast programme this morning the chief executive of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) said that changes had to be made to the way food is packaged in the UK.
"It is a big problem and it's something we must act on," said Dr Liz Goodwin, who added her organisation is working with retailers and their suppliers to find ways of cutting packaging and waste.
However supermarket chain Sainsbury's told the same programme that a certain amount of packaging on goods was necessary to ensure quality and ease of transportation.
Stuart Lendrum, Sainsbury's print and packaging manager, said: "Packaging's really important for us to make sure that we can provide our customers with a really good offer in terms of quality and shelf life of product, and offer a convenient way for them to purchase the goods that they want."