Plastic bags - should we have them or not?

1st March 2007

NEWS RELEASE

Plastic bags- should we have them or not? Let’s get this into perspective!

The Packaging Council and New Zealand Retailers Association encourage shoppers to cut down on the use of plastic shopping bags by only taking what they need - however they point out that plastic shopping bags represent just 0.2% of a landfill. Moreover plastic shopping bags are used by many households as liners for rubbish bins and people would have to buy alternate bags to replace their ubiquitous use in the home!

Grocery retailers Progressive Enterprises NZ, Foodstuffs NZ and the Warehouse Limited signed the Packaging Accord in 2004 committing to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags. In 2004 customers used 720 million plastic shopping bags at the check-out. Last year this had reduced to 706 million bags but importantly there was an 8% reduction in the amount of plastic used saving 434 tonnes of plastic.

The New Zealand Retailers Association (NZRA) will today report to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee that Accord party retailers are on schedule to meet a 20% reduction by 2008. The sale of reusable bags in supermarkets has increased 37% in the same period.

Barry Hellberg of the NZRA says that retailers are working together to tackle this issue.

“Each grocery retailer has agreed to a new consumer campaign to raise awareness with consumers and we will leverage research from other countries. For example studies in Scotland have found that plastic bag taxes just displace demand into heavier gauge plastic rubbish bags for waste disposal which have greater environmental impacts. Irish imports of plastic bags and sacks have increased by 20% since the tax was introduced to satisfy demand for additional bin liners, refuse sacks, nappy bags and other waste bags which previously supermarket bags were used for.”

“There is no point taxing one type of bag out of existence and letting other plastic containers fill the vacuum.”

Paul Curtis, Executive Director of the Packaging Council agrees:

“Ultimately shoppers need to think about whether they really need a plastic shopping bag or whether they can reuse an old one when they go shopping. But everyone I know also uses plastic bags around the home instead of purchasing bespoke waste bags.”

“Introducing a tax on plastic shopping bags may make us all feel better but it really is a very small problem. Why are we putting so much effort into this when if you look at the content of a landfill, the big ticket items are organic wastes such as garden wastes, kitchen waste food processing wastes and sewage sludge which make up about one third of all landfill waste. We encourage customers to say no to plastic bags but if your shopping includes waste disposal bags etc are we really doing the right thing or just moving the problem?”

The Local Government and Environment Select Committee will start hearing responses to the Green Party’s Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill today.

ENDS

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