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Ikea: Plastic Bags That Won't Cost the Earth

Posted on: Monday, 5 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

Furniture retailer Ikea has announced a five pence charge for each plastic bag it gives customers in a move praised by the Environment Agency, which supports a tax on plastic bags. However, the British Retail Consortium opposes a levy because it claims the problem makes up less than 5% of the UK's litter.

With climate change beginning to dominate the political agenda at present, Ikea's latest environmental initiative is a welcome move. As there is no current legislation concerning carrier bags in the UK, Ikea should be applauded for taking a firm stance and sending a clear message to consumers that they all have a part to play in the future of the environment.

The retailer is to introduce the scheme following a successful trial in its Edinburgh store and the five pence charge, rising to ten pence in the autumn, will coincide with a switch to biodegradable bags and a lower price for its reusable carriers. The company hopes the scheme will cut bag use at its stores from 32 million last year by at least 20 million. The retailer currently accounts for only a small proportion of the 17 billion bags given away by retailers in Britain last year, but experts believe more companies are willing to follow its lead.

In Scotland, B&Q has been trialing a similar scheme, charging customers five pence for carrier bags, which it claims has been highly successful - but it has yet to introduce the scheme across the UK. Other retailers have introduced a variety of measures to tackle bag usage; Aldi and Lidl also charge customers for bags - though this is more for cost transparency, rather than environmental reasons. Somerfield was the first national grocer to introduce biodegradable carriers in 2003 and Tesco announced last month that all its bags will be degradable by the end of this year.

The British government has not signaled any plans to commit to a 'plastax' but instead, is closely following developments in Ireland, where a blanket tax on plastic bags introduced in 2002 has purportedly led to a 90% reduction in bag usage.

However, critics argue that this has led to consumers buying more plastic bin bags and a huge increase in paper bag usage - both of which have detrimental environmental effects - releasing harmful greenhouse gases when they decompose. A shifting of the problem does little to add weight to such claims, and these findings are sure to have influenced the Scottish parliament's decision to delay implementation of the tax at the beginning of this year.

While a tax on plastic bags is a headline grabbing initiative, its effectiveness is certainly questionable. Educating consumers to recycle more often should form the foundation of efforts to cut back on plastic bag usage. Retailers could provide greater incentives for customers - such as loyalty points or donations to charity for reusing bags, for instance. These should be introduced in conjunction with more in-store facilities to encourage bag recycling.

Helping to overcome the disposable mindset entrenched in consumers is an uphill challenge but will ultimately have the most profound effect. Commitment and co-operation between retailers and the government will be the key to its success.

Source: Verdict Research

Source: Datamonitor

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