5p Bags a good idea?

rockyfowler · Post by **rockyfowler** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:55 am

I always use bag for life but generally use small clear bags for loose fruit etc (these are exempt if used by the letter of the gov law) imagine my surprise at being asked to pay for odd loose ones left in trolley! impossible to get just one from container, so make sure to put any loose ones back on shelves or you will be charged :cry:

Northern Lass · Post by **Northern Lass** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:20 am

I was under the impression that for your fruit you can use the plastic ones they provide
so that is a bit of a pain if you choose some fruit and then will be charged for the plastic bags near them

Just looked on gov list and cant see where it says that veg and fruit is exempt if in clear bags
so do they charge for those or not?

Generally though I think a good idea.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:18 am

of course it's good idea !! Far too many plastic bags were being used. I've been saying for years that something should be done about the amount of plastic bags in circulation. In Holland we also have to pay for our plastic bags.Just think how many 5p's you will save by not buying a plastic bag.Take shopping bags with you when you do your weekly shop !!! Oh and if people were to stop smoking think how much money would be saved there as well.And then alcohol....no on second thoughts we must have some pleasures mustn't we.

rockyfowler · Post by **rockyfowler** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:28 am

T

To avoid the charge, customers can bring their own bags from home OR they can purchase reusable bags for life which you pay for once and return for a free replacement when they wear out.
Are there exemptions?

Shops in ‘transit’ places are exempt, like airports or on board trains, aeroplanes and ships.

Bags containing certain items to avoid contamination and retain food safety will also remain free.
Bags exempt from charges include:

Live fish, razor blades and loose fruit and vegetables are just some of the items exempt from the charge.

But be warned - a bag is exempt if it contains any number of exempted goods, but not if it contains exempted goods with other non-exempted items.

Here’s the full list of exemptions:

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain wholly or partly unwrapped food for human or animal consumption (for food safety)

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain wholly or partly unwrapped loose seeds, bulbs, corms, flowers, rhizomes or goods contaminated by soil (for food safety to avoid contamination)

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain live aquatic creatures in water, like goldfish

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain a prescription medicine (for pharmacists to comply with legal requirements and for confidentiality)

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain uncooked fish or fish products, meat or meat products or poultry or poultry products (for food safety)

• A returnable multiple reuse bag sold for more than 5p made from material between 50 and 70 microns thick (these are not single use bags and encourage reuse)

• A bag intended to be used solely to contain wholly or partly unwrapped axes, knives, knife blades or razor blades (for safety)

Northern Lass · Post by **Northern Lass** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:06 pm

So I can still have my free bags for my loose veg.

Good!

BC Wench · Post by **BC Wench** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:40 pm

We have also had to pay 5p for bags for over a year now. There was some confusion at the shops at first whether we had to pay for the clear plastic bags used for fruit & veg, because if the shops were found giving them for free they would have been fined! No confusion now, we don't pay for these clear plastic bags. Why should we pay 5p to advertise the shop's logo? The shops are supposed to give these 5ps to a charity, but don't tell you which charity they go to. The only shop I know of is Cotton Traders who give the money to Help for Heroes.

Good idea, but now I have to pay for pedal bin liners :-)

grangers14 · Post by **grangers14** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:54 pm

I think it is a good idea.
We have plastic foldable boxes in our car for main shopping. and use bag for life for smaller things. I do have some spare palstic bags about though...
I remember my Mum and Nan having wicker baskets years ago... There some other things I have seen, Buddy Boxes or something like that?

mallosa · Post by **mallosa** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 2:07 pm

I also think it's a good idea but, it's surprising how many people I have seen with their arms full of items rather than buy a bag :lol:

also I think a lot of supermarket baskets wlll start to go astray :wink:

peterd · Post by **peterd** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:31 pm

make the bags bio degradable, problem solved

SRD · Post by **SRD** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:17 am

Firstly the cost of the bag has been built into the price of the shopping already so why should we pay twice? Are we going to see a suitable reduction in our shopping bills now that we have to pay for our plastic bags?
Of the 5p charge, 1p goes to the government so they are now taxing us extra on our shopping.

The BBC was reporting that the incidence of theft of baskets from supermarkets has rocketed since the introduction of the 5p charge so, instead of plastic bags flying around (incidentally most supermarket bags do bio-degrade anyway), there will be wire baskets clogging the canals and hedgerows.

Another thing, I haven't seen any reports on how many more plastic rubbish bags and bin liners are being purchased now that there aren't any free 'bin liners' around.

Regarding using re-usable bags, on a 'save the planet' basis it usually costs far more in energy & materials to produce the re-usable bags that are proliferating to the extent that one must use them around a hundred times to show a difference in the pollution factor. Very few are strong enough to last that long.

Most of the bags given out are easily re-cyclable but very few councils allow them to be put in the re-cycling boxes, it would make more sense to encourage the re-cycling of them than to put a charge on them, but that would then mean that the government would lose out on the 1p tax income and would have to find the funds to do the work that the charities intend to do with the 4p they receive.

What are the charity shops going to do for bags now? In the past they've relied on people giving them their old, free, shopping bags, are they going to have to purchase bags to be 'sold for 5p' and so continue the merry-go-round?

Antie Em · Post by **Antie Em** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:59 pm

I think it's a great idea - I haven't used the free plastic ones for years - I always buy the reusable ones and keep them in the car.

dudleytaylor · Post by **dudleytaylor** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:29 am

We always take our own reusable bags . I see no reason why recycled paper bags cannot be used

Jimmy · Post by **Jimmy** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 4:29 pm

I found this interesting.

http://grmdaily.com/5p-bags-are-actually-illegal/

https://www.change.org/p/goverment-law- ... on-5p-bags

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm

Interesting Jimmy . I think the most important question in all of this for some people ,when alls said and done, is can i still have my free bags for my loose veg.

dudleytaylor · Post by **dudleytaylor** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:29 am

You can have a free bag for all fresh foods ie Fresh meat,loose veg etc

Genealogy Forum UK

5p Bags a good idea?

5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?

Re: 5p Bags a good idea?