Where a plastic bag can get you jailed: The countries getting tough on carriers

Monday, 27 November 2017

Which countries have cut their plastic bag usage?

More than 40 countries across the world have taken action to reduce their usage of single-use plastic bags.

From Denmark to China to Rwanda, there are bans and charges in place - and in Kenya, you can even be jailed for using plastic bags.

Here in New Zealand some of our supermarkets are now removing plastic bags from checkouts, but our government hasn't made any such measures compulsory.

Who has had the most success worldwide? Arguably, that award goes to Ireland, which put a mandatory charge in place in 2002, equivalent to roughly 24 cents.

The charge led to consumption rates plummeting 95 per cent, while 90 per cent of customers switched to reusable bags. This equated to average usage drop from 328 bags used per year to 21.

The levy was not a new idea when Ireland adopted it – Denmark has had one since 1998. Consumption of plastic and paper bags reportedly declined 66 per cent as a result. However, when the charge failed to keep up with inflation, consumption rates reportedly crept back back up.

How well does New Zealand rate when it comes to plastic bag action?

Ireland did increase its levy, bumping it up to the equivalent of 36c in 2007, after average consumption rates rose to 30 bags per year. By 2015 usage had dropped to only 12 bags per person per year.

Money from the levy goes to the Irish government's Environment Fund, which is ring-fenced for spending on environmental protection. In 2013, 11 years after the levy's introduction, 200 million Euros, or over $328m, had been raised.

England was the last country in the UK to impose a levy, rolling out a 10 cents per bag charge in early 2016. Six months down the track media outlets were touting an 83 per cent reduction in use - though there are some doubts around the figure.

The weakness in England's legislation was it only applied to retailers with over 250 employees, and data was only collected from the seven largest supermarket chains. With England's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs estimating small and medium-sized enterprises have a little over a quarter of the market share, some have claimed reduction rate may be closer to 59 per cent.

There were also reports of increased sales of less eco-friendly bin liners, as people turned to paid-for options for their rubbish.

Denmark was among the first countries to impose a levy on plastic bags.

However, a review of the scheme in Wales found the waste created by more bin liners was negligible compared to the reductions in waste from free supermarket bags. In a year, bin bag usage increased to the tune of 80 tonnes, compared to the reduction of 2,129 tonnes of shopping bags used in the two years after the levy's introduction.

Recognition of a need for change is spreading. European Union members were required in 2016 to develop plans to cut bag usage by 90 bags per person by 2019, and to 40 per person by 2025. Currently the average EU resident uses just under 200 bags per year.

Germany has opted for voluntary agreements with the retail sector – an approach so far shared by the New Zealand government.

One of the reasons Germany chose a voluntary option was because average usage was already comparatively low, about 70 bags per person per year. This compares to Kiwi usage of over 300.

The German solution has several shortcomings, despite 260 retail companies reportedly signing on. Firstly, it is fully voluntary, and secondly, it only covers thicker bags given out in department and clothing stores, while flimsy plastic bags used in supermarkets remain free. In force since July 2016, there is limited information on the success of the German scheme so far.

Money from Ireland's plastic tax goes to the Government's Environment Fund.

New Zealand has no such agreement, instead relying on a voluntary working group between packaging industry representatives and the largest supermarkets, which was brought together by then-Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson in mid-2017. Since then New World and Countdown have announced they will be phasing out the plastic bag by 2018. But as it stands, Kiwis use around 1.29 billion plastic bags a year.

In Africa, Greenpeace Africa officer Hellen Dena said the likes of Rwanda, Kenya, Tunisia and Morocco had banned plastics bags while South Africa had banned thinner bags and placed a tax on thicker options, and Botswana also had a levy.

While the various bans and restrictions had led to reduced usage, Dena said there were little or no statistics to back that up.

'Some citizens feel that as much as the bans look good on paper they have been imposed in a really draconian way. Some of the countries that have banned plastic belong to a free-trade world, in which countries exist that have not yet banned the bags, so people will continue to find ways to sneak them in,' she said. 'There is also the risk of a black market emerging.'

From late August, Kenya has imposed what may be the toughest sanctions against plastic bag use. Producing, selling or even using plastic bags now carries penalties of up to four years in jail or a fine up to NZ$55,000.

The UN Environmental Programme estimated 100 million plastic bags were previously handed out in Kenya every year.

Closer to home, some states in Australia have banned plastic bags, and in July two of the country's largest chains, Coles and Woolworths, announced they would be phasing out single-use bags from their stores nationwide by July 2018. Queensland will also be banning single use bags from July 2018.