5p Plastic Bag Charge
Island Delight fully supports the 5p Plastic Bag Charge
As of 5th October 2015 the law changed to require large shops across England to charge 5p for all single-use plastic carrier bags.
This new law has come long after the change had already been in place in other parts of the United Kingdom and is fully supported by us at Cleone Foods, as we have a real commitment to environmentally friendly production and packaging, ensuring all the outer packaging for our foods are constructed from recyclable cardboard.
250 Employees or More
The 5p plastic bag charge doesn’t apply to all shops but it is in place with many. All businesses who have 250 or more employees in their company, not in a single store, must charge for the price of each single-use carrier bag and this includes supermarkets, out of town stores and even some high street retailers. It is the latest attempt the government is making to instil a more environmentally friendly way of life in England.
Save Waste
The government hopes that the new scheme will follow in the footsteps of those in other areas of the United Kingdom, where charges for single-use carrier bags has seen a drop in use of them altogether. The government’s research found that over 7.6 billion single-use plastic bags were given to customers, just by major supermarkets in England in 2014, which works out at around 140 bags per person and this further to evidence which shows that the average household already has 40 plastic bags in the home. The amount of waste this amounts to is huge, around 61,000 tonnes in total and plastic bags can have a damning impact on the environment.
Single-user carrier bags are slower than other types of bag to degrade and they can be damaging to both wildlife and the natural world and that’s not to mention the eyesore they create when littered around our towns.
80% Less Bags Used
The government hope this change in law will mean that use of this type of bag will reduce and they have ambitious targets, hoping that 80% less bags will be used in supermarkets and as much as 50% left on the high street. Evidence from the similar scheme in Wales found that plastic bag consumptions was down 79% in the first three years and now, alongside Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, England has joined the rest of the UK with the introduction of the charge.
At Island Delight was strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible and are fully supportive of this new measure to reduce the use of plastic bags in our supermarkets and on the high street.
