People are being asked for their views on proposals to introduce a charge on single use carrier bags.
Mid and West Wales Assembly Member Joyce Watson said:
"We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, yet old carrier bags can look terrible in our hedgerows and riverbanks and also cause huge damage to our wildlife.
"Most of us want to do our bit for future generations, so I hope people across Mid and West Wales will make their views felt."
Supermarket members of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have already agreed to reduce the amount of single-use carrier bags they give out by 50% by spring 2009, but the Welsh Assembly Government wants to find out how to make more of a difference in Wales.
Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: "I support this voluntary agreement but it doesn't cover all retailers and means that half of all plastic bags are still used for one shopping trip. I want to look at how we can further reduce the amount of single use carrier bags and how we can encourage more people to re-use bags.”
The main areas where the Assembly Government is seeking views are:
What type of bags should be included?
Which retailers should charge for bags?
How much should the charge be?
How should records be kept of these charges and how should they be published?
How would the scheme be administered and enforced?
Joyce added:
“An estimated 480 million plastic bags are used in Wales each year. It takes between 500 and 1,000 years for these bags to degrade and this cannot continue.
“By re-using bags, not only will we reduce litter, but also help cut our global footprint.”
Last month, the Welsh Assembly Government launched a bi-lingual radio and website campaign – ‘Get Carried Away’ - to encourage people to re-use their single use carrier bags and help them remember to take their bags with them when they go shopping. The first 1,000 people who registered with the site will receive a re-usable bag.
The Republic of Ireland introduced a charge in 2002 and they have seen over 90 per cent reduction in the amount of single use plastic bags.
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Welcome to my website
I was elected as the Labour Assembly Member for Mid & West Wales in May 2007 and have been working hard since for all the people in the region, and will continue to do so. You can follow my work in the National Assembly and throughout the constituency using this site.
Croeso i'm wefan
Cefais fy etholi fel Aelod y Cynulliad dros Canolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru yn Mai 2007 ac rwyf yn parhau i weithio’n galed i bawb yn y rhanbarth. Fe allwch defnyddio'r wefan hon i ddilyn fy waith yn y Cynulliad Cenedlaethol a trwy gydol yr etholaeth.
