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Leading the charge? Payments for single use carrier bags in Wales

On 1 October 2011, the Welsh government (WG), employing powers conferred by ss 77 and 90 of and Schedule 6 to the Climate Change Act 2008 (the Act),1 introduced the first mandatory charge for single use carrier bags in the UK through the implementation of the Single Use Carrier Bag Charge (Wales) Regulations 20102 (the Regulations). Under the Regulations, retailers are required to charge a minimum of 5p for all single use carrier bags, which meet the definitional requirements laid down in the Regulations. This definition includes plastic, paper, biodegradable and recyclable carrier bags. All retailers, not only those retailers that sell food and groceries, are affected by the Regulations, which apply equally to sales in store and online. The Regulations extend to goods purchased in Wales and goods delivered in a single use carrier bag to someone in Wales. Wales was the first of the devolved administrations to introduce such a scheme, though the Republic of Ireland introduced a nationwide charge for plastic carrier bags as long ago as 2002.3 At the time of writing, consultations on similar schemes are underway in Scotland and recently concluded in Northern Ireland. This paper considers this activity on the part of devolved administrations in the UK. It then draws on our two empirical studies to analyse the experiences of the implementation process in Wales of both the general public and of retailers whose behaviour is effectively regulated by the change. It concludes with some reflections on introducing legislative change which will affect the everyday behaviour of the population as a whole. It opens, now, with a consideration of why one might want to reduce the number of single use carrier bags in circulation. It is estimated that 500bn plastic carrier bags are used worldwide each year.4 In the UK alone, in 2010 there were approximately 6.8bn plastic bags handed out by retail shops. In 2009, an estimated 445m carrier bags were used by shoppers from the major supermarkets