Irish Plastic Bag Tax- A Solution for Australia?

[Penn Gwynne <>]

Irish Plastic Bag Tax- A Solution for Australia?

Irish cut plastic bag use by 90% in just 5 months Planet Ark are today calling on governments and supermarkets in Australia to review whether Australia should place a tax on plastic bags in supermarkets. This follows the Irish Government?s announcement that their plastic bag levy has cut the use of plastic bags in supermarkets by 90% in just 5 months.

The 15 euro-cent (around 26 Australian cents) per bag levy was introduced earlier in the year in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic bag litter produced by some of Ireland?s 3.8 million residents. 3.5 million euros (around $6.18 million Australian) has been raised by the tax program, which Environment Minister Martin Cullen says will be spent on environmental projects. Under the scheme, shoppers are charged for each plastic checkout bag they take from supermarkets and other retail stores.

Irish shoppers used around 1.2 billion plastic bags each year, before the tax was implemented. According to the Irish Government, the use of these bags has now been cut by around 90%. Australians use around 6 billion plastic bags per year, 3.3 billion of which are supermarket plastic bags ? the type of plastic targeted by the Irish tax. If Australia introduced a similar tax on our supermarket bags, we could reduce plastic bag usage by up to 3 billion plastic bags a year. Plastic bags, along with cigarette butts, are among the most common litter items in Australia, harming wildlife and spoiling the beauty of the Australian landscape. According to Planet Ark?s Founder and Managing Director, Jon Dee, Australia can learn from this overseas initiative.

"Whilst we haven?t had the dramatic results seen in Ireland, many Australian supermarkets are voluntarily providing plastic bag recycling services in-store," says Dee. "Coles Supermarkets, Woolworths and Safeways all have plastic bag recycling bins in their stores and Coles sell calico bag alternatives." "It would be great if consumers could take the initiative themselves and choose alternatives like reusable calico bags," says Dee. "However, the Irish experiment indicates that it takes a financial impediment like a tax to coax people off their plastic bag habits."

Planet Ark would like to see Government representatives, retailers and the community meeting in a cooperative round table discussion to discuss whether the Irish scheme could work over here. "Planet Ark would like to facilitate such a meeting to see if we can learn from the Irish experience," says Dee. Michael Meacher, the UK Environment Minister, has already asked his civil servants to look at the Irish success to see whether Britain can implement such a scheme. "It would be good if Dr Kemp, our Environment Minister, could do the same," said Dee.

For information on plastic bag recycling locations nearest to where they live, people can go to the Planet Ark / Waste Service NSW web site at www.recyclingnearyou.com.au - just type in your postcode.

ENDS For more info, call Planet Ark on 02 9251 3444 or call Jon Dee directly on 0414 971 900

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