Plastic bag Levy

Andy From Sligo

The UK (well a lot of people) still giving out about paying 5p (6c) per plastic bag - why did we have to start of with a 15c and now why are we up to 22c per bag - have we got the pricing right or is it too cheap or too dear?

has the levy been a success on the whole?

My issues on reusing the plastic bag is hygiene. whereas before if you were given a plastic bag and you spilt milk in it or anything like that , you chucked it away, you didnt reuse it again. but on the other hand they are so bad for the environment and dangerous to animals so something had to be done.

boardsuser1

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

The UK (well a lot of people) still giving out about paying 5p (6c) per plastic bag - why did we have to start of with a 15c and now why are we up to 22c per bag - have we got the pricing right or is it too cheap or too dear?

has the levy been a success on the whole?

My issues on reusing the plastic bag is hygiene. whereas before if you were given a plastic bag and you spilt milk in it or anything like that , you chucked it away, you didnt reuse it again. but on the other hand they are so bad for the environment and dangerous to animals so something had to be done.

Plastic bag levy???? I thought this was July 2016. Not March 2002.

Ken.

The idea is to deter people from buying plastic bags. I'd buy and dump a 6c bag. 22c is a bit much to be throwing away.

Armchair Andy

Andy From Sligo wrote:

has the levy been a success on the whole?

Nothing a tube of lube wouldn't help.

OldMrBrennan83

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buried

'Plastic bag levy' my arse. Are international companies and corporations paying 'plastic bag levies' for all the products the make that are wrapped up in plastic? Are they F**k

andekwarhola

My local Tesco doesn't even have the 22c bags anymore, just the more expensive ones.

That said, I'm a thick cnut for always forgetting to bring one of the 750 bags stored in my boot.

Andy From Sligo

why did the levy have to fall back on the public? - why couldnt the retailers foot the bill and supply customers with bags for life free of charge? - after all part of customer service is that you purchase the items off the retailers and on most occasions you need some kind of carrier bag to put your items into .

I remember in the 90's long before the Levy was bought in saying to shops "no, im OK I dont need a bag" and them saying "no, we have to give you a bag to do with security, if you walk out of shop with the Items out of a bag you will be stopped by security" and plus they used to use it in a marketing/advertising way because they put their name/logo on the carrier bag for every one to see where you had been shopping in town.

Speedwell

22c? Jesus, at that rate I might go buy more cheap Baggu knockoffs from the sketchy Hong Kong wholesale merchants on eBay. I've had about a dozen from there and they've lasted me about four years now.

kneemos

Haven't seen a 22c bag in years.

wakka12

Those cheap thin plastic bags should be banned full stop. Everyone should have some good quality reusables in their car or ones they can buy for 2 /3 euro in the shop

dee_mc

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

why did the levy have to fall back on the public? - why couldnt the retailers foot the bill and supply customers with bags for life free of charge? - after all part of customer service is that you purchase the items off the retailers and on most occasions you need some kind of carrier bag to put your items into .

I remember in the 90's long before the Levy was bought in saying to shops "no, im OK I dont need a bag" and them saying "no, we have to give you a bag to do with security, if you walk out of shop with the Items out of a bag you will be stopped by security" and plus they used to use it in a marketing/advertising way because they put their name/logo on the carrier bag for every one to see where you had been shopping in town.

The levy was introduced because of the environmental impact of all the plastic bags that were given out. The responsibility for refusing, reusing or recycling the bag is left up to the customer, which makes sense in my opinion.
You mentioned that you are concerned about the hygiene of reusing a bag that's had milk spilt in it - you can easily wash and dry the heavier bags intended for keeping chilled food cold, or just use washable shopping bags.

OldMrBrennan83

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Sir Osis of Liver.

I parade around Aldi with a Dunnes bag for life,giving the impression I'm wealthy.

Your Face

Andy From Sligo

dee_mc wrote: »

.....you can easily wash and dry the heavier bags intended for keeping chilled food cold, or just use washable shopping bags.

yeah , but who does regually wash their shopping bags out lets be honest about it. even the handles are grubby with worn in dirt on some peoples shopping bags I have seen . My wife uses re-usable carrier bags, had allsorts in them and foodstuff dont think i have ever seen her wash them out once lol :eek: -

and her mother once asked us to go out and get some shopping and gave us her shopping bag it had god knows what spilt in it, definately gone off milk at some time and smelt of cat wee too - we bloody bought her a new one - FFS I know they are re-usable but there are limits!

animaal

Environmental measures are grand, but they should be revenue-neutral so as not be be seen (or used) as a revenue grabbing exercise.

In the case of the bag levy, it should have been brought in alongside something like a state-subsidised bottle refund system or something.

Harry Palmr

What's a plastic bag? Are they for poor (and stupid) people?

Andy From Sligo

I have been known in the past to precariously juggle a whole lot of Items whilst walking out of a shop instead of paying 22c or the extortionate price for a bag for life -- youd think the shopkeeper would say "ah hey feckit take one of these... on the house, just dont tell anyone"- no such luck, bloody jobsworths :mad:

Harry Palmr

Hessian cloth is the only thing for shopping with these days.

Andy From Sligo

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Hessian cloth is the only thing for shopping with these days.

can you bung em in the washing machine?

Muahahaha

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

has the levy been a success on the whole?

A huge success, before it came in the countryside was absolutely littered with plastic bags caught in trees and hedges. The introduction of the levy brought about a change in behaviour of keeping them rather that just tossing it out of the car.

My issues on reusing the plastic bag is hygiene. whereas before if you were given a plastic bag and you spilt milk in it or anything like that , you chucked it away, you didnt reuse it again. but on the other hand they are so bad for the environment and dangerous to animals so something had to be done.

Theres no point in crying over spilt milk

Speedwell

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yeah , but who does regually wash their shopping bags out lets be honest about it. even the handles are grubby with worn in dirt on some peoples shopping bags I have seen . My wife uses re-usable carrier bags, had allsorts in them and foodstuff dont think i have ever seen her wash them out once lol :eek: -

and her mother once asked us to go out and get some shopping and gave us her shopping bag it had god knows what spilt in it, definately gone off milk at some time and smelt of cat wee too - we bloody bought her a new one - FFS I know they are re-usable but there are limits!

I wash mine regularly. They're just nylon so they take up hardly any room in the load and are dry practically as soon as I take them out of the wash.

Edit: I remembered I needed to buy more anyway so I just did. Less than a euro for each bag including shipping; in eBay.ie I tried several searches but this worked best: Search string "reusable nylon shopping bag 2pcs" (without the quotes); results sorted by "Buy It Now" and "lowest price including shipping". You'll get a handful of results right at the top for some cheap and cheerful folding nylon bags in pouches with a tag that might or might not say "BAGGU".

I do have genuine Baggu bags and they are better, but not (based on the price) fifteen times better plus ten times better for postage, plus customs charges from the US, lol.

Berserker

andekwarhola wrote: »

My local Tesco doesn't even have the 22c bags anymore, just the more expensive ones.

The Tesco bags cost 70c each now. I got caught with that during the week.

murpho999

How do people manage to spill milk into a bag? Been shopping for years and never had it happen.

Why is this being discussed? I thought everyone agreed that the scheme is a resounding success.

Just because the UK are way behind it does not mean it has to be debated in Ireland again.

Speedwell

murpho999 wrote: »

How do people manage to spill milk into a bag? Been shopping for years and never had it happen.

Why is this being discussed? I thought everyone agreed that the scheme is a resounding success.

Just because the UK are way behind it does not mean it has to be debated in Ireland again.

You've never bought milk with a loose cap or that was banged around in the car, great; I hope you are that fortunate in other areas of your life.

I don't know about you, but I'm discussing it with a view to alternatives to disposable shopping bags; the ones I use are plain solid colors, washable, compactly foldable, last for years, and are at least comparable in price to what they're charging now for plastic shopping bags plastered with shop advertising that never last me more than a handful of uses before they develop holes and tears from the corners of things, and can't be washed.

prinzeugen

I think most big places are doing away with the 22c bags as they are getting screwed by the revenue like Dunnes was.

The company I worked for was charged the 22c on every bag it was supplied with even if 20% were fecked because they were made wrong.

So they started using better quality plastic but it cost about the same as a 70c bag they could make money on..

Allinall

buried wrote: »

'Plastic bag levy' my arse. Are international companies and corporations paying 'plastic bag levies' for all the products the make that are wrapped up in plastic? Are they F**k

http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-water-waste-and-environment-waste-and-recycling-waste-collection-commercial-0

DEFTLEFTHAND

Plastic bag Levy my arse. Give me a bit of the Reverend Bod Levy and his blue salad dressing.

mansize

prinzeugen wrote: »

I think most big places are doing away with the 22c bags as they are getting screwed by the revenue like Dunnes was.

The company I worked for was charged the 22c on every bag it was supplied with even if 20% were fecked because they were made wrong.

So they started using better quality plastic but it cost about the same as a 70c bag they could make money on..

Revenue wasn't screwing Dunnes

Slideways

I wish they would bring it in here in Australia.

Its a bloody fantastic idea and if people are too stupid or lazy to bring their own bags to the shop then the government deserves every cent of the levy they take.

Tipperary Fairy

Slideways wrote: »

I wish they would bring it in here in Australia.

Its a bloody fantastic idea and if people are too stupid or lazy to bring their own bags to the shop then the government deserves every cent of the levy they take.

Yeah it's crazy that they're still given out so freely here. But I think it's all from recycled plastic at least. Australia is much bigger generally on recycling than Ireland though.


I'm wondering when people are really going to start taking this kind of **** seriously. The world is way over populated, and we're ruining it. Leo's speech there recently sums it up nicely.

Anyone ever hear of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Esel

Paper or plastic?













Rhetorical question - plastic is just too dangerous! :eek:

OldMrBrennan83

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murpho999

Speedwell wrote: »

You've never bought milk with a loose cap or that was banged around in the car, great; I hope you are that fortunate in other areas of your life.

I don't know about you, but I'm discussing it with a view to alternatives to disposable shopping bags; the ones I use are plain solid colors, washable, compactly foldable, last for years, and are at least comparable in price to what they're charging now for plastic shopping bags plastered with shop advertising that never last me more than a handful of uses before they develop holes and tears from the corners of things, and can't be washed.

No, it has genuinely never happened to me. Ever. Also I always pack bag with milk upright and bottom of the bag so that could be a factor.

Also we. Have shop branded bags in car from Lidl, Superquinn(shows they're old) and Tesco and they all last perfectly fine.

Foldable crates are another option.

machiavellianme

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Oh, moneybags!

OldMrBrennan83

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EmptyTree

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

My issues on reusing the plastic bag is hygiene. whereas before if you were given a plastic bag and you spilt milk in it or anything like that , you chucked it away, you didnt reuse it again. but on the other hand they are so bad for the environment and dangerous to animals so something had to be done.

If I spill milk or anything else in the bag I simply throw it away and buy a new bag. Why would I reuse it?

Total non-issue imo.

Esel

EmptyTree wrote: »

If I spill milk or anything else in the bag I simply throw it away and buy a new bag. Why would I reuse it?

Total non-issue imo.

Because 22c !

snubbleste

The UK are not giving out about it OP.
It is only English peeps.
Wales introduced a 5p levy in 2011, NornIron in 2013, Scotland in 2014, England in 2015.

EmptyTree

Esel wrote: »

Because 22c !

:eek:

Well this is an outrage!! I mean I am outraged.

klose

Every big brand retailer in my town only has those 70c thicker plastic bags aswell as the bag for life ones these days instead of the 22c ones. Used to work in a supervalu and was checking invoices one day and saw there was a 70% margin on those 70c bags so easy to see why shops are just going with those now.

mansize

klose wrote: »

Every big brand retailer in my town only has those 70c thicker plastic bags aswell as the bag for life ones these days instead of the 22c ones. Used to work in a supervalu and was checking invoices one day and saw there was a 70% margin on those 70c bags so easy to see why shops are just going with those now.

And there is no levy when they cost that much

Andy From Sligo

EmptyTree wrote: »

If I spill milk or anything else in the bag I simply throw it away and buy a new bag. Why would I reuse it?

Total non-issue imo.

other people dont though "I paid 22c for this bag, im buggered if Im gonna throw it in the bin!" .... - I suppose they might wash it out if they have time, or just use it again with bits of spilt liquid and some leaves of cabbage at bottom of the bag .

it almost feels like we evolve as a modern race with disposable bags which we threw away when they tore or got grubby or grimy .. to using filthy grimy bags over and over again until they give out finally and come to the end of their life, - I have even see people 'patch' up their carrier bags with Gaffa tape for gods sake to get that 'extra little bit of life' out of them

Andy From Sligo

snubbleste wrote: »

The UK are not giving out about it OP.
It is only English peeps.
Wales introduced a 5p levy in 2011, NornIron in 2013, Scotland in 2014, England in 2015.

thanks, geography never my strongest subject in school

Andy From Sligo

plastic bags are what they are at the end of the day... Plastic! - still take over 100 years or whatever it is to disintegrate (thats even if they do) . So surprised they are not just biodegradable like you know when you have those outer wrappers on the toilet blocks and it dissolves when its been in water for a while... mind you I suppose then people bring their shopping out in rain and bag would start degrading then so thats no good either.

In US a lot of shops give really strong large brown paper bags with all your groceries (I predict for free?)

pillphil

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Judging by the people in this thread, it is. :P

Andy From Sligo

its a strange thing - i bet a psychiatrist could explain it, but 22c is not a lot of money but its still begrudgable having to buy one .... but when you have gone out and forgot your bag and after buying all them items out of the shop and giving them your hard earned cash and choosing to shop with them to keep them in business they still would rather to see you balance everything rather than say "have you got a bag no?.. here have one of these for free"

I like the pound shops (as I still call them) because most of the time if you buy a few items off them they give you free paper bags and on a couple of occasions have given me a large black dustbin bag if I have bought quite a few bits off them

pillphil

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

its a strange thing - i bet a psychiatrist could explain it, but 22c is not a lot of money but its still begrudgable having to buy one .... but when you have gone out and forgot your bag and after buying all them items out of the shop and giving them your hard earned cash and choosing to shop with them to keep them in business they still would rather to see you balance everything rather than say "have you got a bag no?.. here have one of these for free"

I like the pound shops (as I still call them) because most of the time if you buy a few items off them they give you free paper bags and on a couple of occasions have given me a large black dustbin bag if I have bought quite a few bits off them

It would completely defeat the purpose of the tax at that point, though. No-one would bring bags in if they started giving them out for free if you didn't.

lertsnim

I always have a few bags in the boot of the car.

Galwayguy35

I use the same bags until they tear or the handles break and then get another few, it's no big deal throwing a few bags in the car when going to do the weekly shop.

Was watching Sky News and you'd swear the world was ending with the amount of whinging that was going on, one moany minnie was giving out that she had to even pay for the plastic bag.