Jayne Dowle: Bag-charge plan causes chaos and confusion

In the back of the car is an array of shopping bags and “bags for life”. This is my attempt at a system. The plan is that I take one or two in with me when I nip into a shop. Trouble is, nine times out of 10, I forget. Then I find myself in the queue at Aldi with a laden basket and no choice but to cough up – this retailer already has a pay-for-it policy in place.

When I’ve spent good money on a bag – and I know we’re only talking pence – I don’t want to throw it away. So I take it home and keep it. It’s among friends. I save every single carrier bag I’m given because I feel so guilty. I worry that I will end up as the subject of one of those television programmes which deals with compulsive hoarders. My family worry that one day they will come home and find me trapped in the cellar, pinned down by an unstoppable tide of classic Netto models from 2007.

And Nick Clegg thinks he’s got problems. His plans to introduce a 5p charge for bag use have fallen into disarray more spectacular even than my cellar. A cross-party committee of MPs confirms that the plastic bag proposals have descended into “a complete mess”.

It’s over-complicated, over-ambitious and based more on wishful thinking than hard evidence, says Joan Walley MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee. Basically, Defra (the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) wants a 5p charge to apply only to supermarkets and larger stores.

Most small shops and take-away outlets would not have to implement the cost because the administration would be a burden. Where to draw the line is just one of the issues causing consternation amongst government officials. Yet the Association of Convenience Stores itself says that the best way of tackling the issue is to ensure that every shop, regardless of size, charges for carrier bags. It sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Well, then there’s the biodegradable matter. Defra proposes that biodegradable bags should avoid the charge. Sounds simple too? Far too simple for this policy. Here’s what a Defra spokesman has to say: “Biodegradable bags will only be exempt if they are genuinely biodegradable – currently such a bag does not exist.” It sounds like a line straight from the TV series Yes, Prime Minister. Unfortunately, it’s straight from a Whitehall press release. And don’t get me started on the paper bags versus plastic bags bit. It tires me out just to type it, never mind inflict the mind-numbing nuances on you.

No disrespect to the Welsh here. Or the Irish for that matter. Or people in Northern Ireland. But how come all these countries have managed to introduce charges for bag use without society breaking down and riots in the streets? How come England, with all its complex levels of government and checks and balances and scrutiny systems appears to be going so off the point? Perhaps that is the point; it’s been made far too complicated. Like the Big Society, the Green Deal and countless other measures dreamt up by the coalition, it’s a good idea that has found itself mired in indecisiveness, buck-passing and general ineptitude.

However, the simple fact remains that charging for plastic bags works. Wales led the way, introducing the policy in 2011. The number of bags used has been reduced by 96 per cent in some sectors. Northern Ireland only introduced the charge last year, yet usage has already declined by 80 per cent and the government plans to raise the levy to 10p because it is working so well.

And let’s not forget that this is a positive and beneficial idea. It improves the environment, slashes litter, cuts costs and contributes to reducing our carbon footprint. More than eight billion disposable carrier bags are used in England every year – that’s 130 per person. They end up in rivers and blowing across fields. They end up tangled around fences and wrapped round the necks of birds. They end up contributing to the mind-boggling £650m a year it costs to bury and burn reusable and recyclable materials, according to Friends of the Earth.

When you consider some of the bureaucratic ideas Ministers have come up with to tackle all of the above, charging for carrier bags seems a refreshingly straightforward measure. And it’s proposed that the millions raised would directly benefit environmental good causes. When I’m having a sorting-out day myself, I cull my collection and take a sack or two to the charity shop. Although my own policy is generally a disaster zone, I feel I am doing my bit. Charities re-use my precious bags and it saves them money. If I can manage to get myself even a little bit organised, why can’t this Government?