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

This post has been deleted.

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

This post has been deleted.

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.