Scots warning on plastic bag scheme

Scottish retailers have spoken out about their doubts over the workings of Scotland's proposed plastic bag tax, following the publication of an Extended Impact Assessment.

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) says that it 'fears the scheme will be an administrative nightmare', with 32 local authorities - all using different systems - imposing and collecting the tax.

The SRC says that with local authorities collecting the tax independently, there is no central pot for revenue to be collected and put back into improving the environment. In the pioneering Irish scheme, tax collected goes directly to the Revenue Commissioners and is then used for environmental purposes.

'The assessment offers very little justification for the introduction of a plastic bag tax. We see this debate becoming extremely emotive, to the point where delivering any true environmental, social or economic benefit is becoming less of a priority,' said SRC director Fiona Moriarty. 'A tax should give incentives and encourage markets for recycled plastic carriers instead of penalising alternatives.'

This September, the SRC will run a reusable bag pilot in Edinburgh, raising consumer awareness of reusable bags and training staff at retail stores to reduce the number of carrier bags handed out to customers.