It seems the usage of plastic bags in the UK has increased in twenty fourteen, despite the levy which Scotland and Wales have introduced for single-use plastic bags. England is also about to implement a five pence levy on single-use plastic bags effective 5th of October, 2015. However, concerns over increased use of plastic bags are questioning the effectiveness of the upcoming levy. Whether or not the levy will work in reducing plastic bag use remains to be seen, but the figures are clear – in twenty fourteen, the UK used up eight point five billion plastic bags, as opposed to eight point three billion in twenty thirteen (according to WRAP).
It’s not all bad news though as in two thousand six for instance, people in the UK were using the whopping twelve point two billion plastic bags, which indicates a notable decrease. If the statistics were read in terms of weight of plastic bags used, the figures are staggering – in twenty fourteen a total weight of sixty eight thousand tonnes of plastic bags were used in the UK, which is a slight increase of the twenty thirteen total weight of sixty seven thousand tonnes. The energy and resources required to produce that many bags are still more than the energy and resources required for rubbish removal and recycling of such waste, which is also good news.
At the same time, increase in plastic bag usage in the UK isn’t making too much sense on paper, as according to DEFRA households in the UK already have about forty plastic bags stashed away, yet household members continue the trend of increased use. In Scotland though, it seems the levy is slowly doing its thing – introduced only for the last eleven weeks of twenty fourteen, the levy has reduced plastic bag use by nearly hundred and fifty million bags. If the figures are projected in future, indexing shows that Scotland will most likely meet the initial UK goal for reducing eighty percent of total plastic bag use.
Wales has been the first UK country to introduce the five pence levy on plastic bags (as of 1st of Oct, 2011) and results have been clear to see – two point one million bags used in twenty fifteen so far, as compared to the nine point six million plastic bags used in twenty eleven. According to UK’s Environmental Secretary, the levy implementation is effective and actually works, although England’s domestic results are somewhat slow to improve. Consumer behaviour seems to be finally changing, even though at snail pace. It is expected for upcoming years to yield a genuine reduction in plastic bag use in England in particular and for the positive trend to continue in the UK in general. In Scotland, consumer behaviour has clearly changed since the levy introduction – more and more people are bringing their own reusable bags when shopping. At the start though, Scots were using eight hundred million plastic bags per year – per capita, that was more than any other population in the UK.