5p

[MrMarkyMark]

I'm no expert but I think the damage done by plastic bags is out of proportion to the actual mass of plastic involved. They float around the oceans and get tangled up with sea life, or poison birds/animals. And if 3 or 4 bags get tangled in the upper twigs of a tree in your garden, you get to watch as the wind slowly shreds them over the next 25 years.

Couldn't agree more with your other point about bulk buy/container point. Packaging has got potty.

Good point.
Particularly noticable when visiting "paradise" islands around Asia.

[MarillionFan]

Fooking Tories

Thought this was a thread about how Suity02 has had to drop her price to compete with Tesco's who are also selling old bags for 5p.

[d000hg]

Supermarket plastic bags are just an easy target that people have latched on to, but won't make the slightest difference to landfill volumes in the bigger scheme of things. E.g. a typical family shop say it's 8 carrier bags full. The actual volume of plastic in the 8 plastic bags is miniscule compared to the non-recyclable packaging of the shopping itself.

It's not mainly about the volume/mass but the mess. They're about the most effective way of cluttering the place up gram for gram

Are food packaging plastics still fully non-degradable?

edit: unix beat me to it

[rl4engc]

I reckon the packaging industry need to bang their heads together and decide on a single type of plastic that can be used for everything; bags, trays, jars, etc.

Then, a market needs to spring up in "home recycling shredders". These could be mounted inside and (with a suitable sized aperture cut into the side of ones home) or outside, and would deposit the shredded contents into an outside bin.

This (and the idea could be extended to card and glass) would then only need collecting every couple of months, rather than the weekly/bi-weekly collection as it is now. Let's face it the collections at the minute are mainly collecting fresh air, hardly efficient.

Councils could encourage users doing this by e.g. giving a discount on council tax, or subsidizing the shredder.

I can feel a Dragon's Den moment coming on..

[MrMarkyMark]

I reckon the packaging industry need to bang their heads together and decide on a single type of plastic that can be used for everything; bags, trays, jars, etc.

Then, a market needs to spring up in "home recycling shredders". These could be mounted inside and (with a suitable sized aperture cut into the side of ones home) or outside, and would deposit the shredded contents into an outside bin.

This (and the idea could be extended to card and glass) would then only need collecting every couple of months, rather than the weekly/bi-weekly collection as it is now. Let's face it the collections at the minute are mainly collecting fresh air, hardly efficient.

Councils could encourage users doing this by e.g. giving a discount on council tax, or subsidizing the shredder.

I can feel a Dragon's Den moment coming on..

Far too sensible. For that reason I'm out.

[d000hg]

Not a bad idea that. Basically a US-style waste-disposal unit but for non-organic waste? Cleaning could be an issue but I suppose a dedicated unit would do this too?

But then, the waste disposal unit never took off here either.

[sal]

Subsidizing shredders or better recycling costs Government money, charging 5p for plastic bags earns them money, guess which one will be chosen...

I believe the statistics from Wales and other parts of UK where the charge already exists show a significant decrease in the number of bags used.

M&S has been charging for them for ages.

[d000hg]

Subsidizing shredders or better recycling costs Government money, charging 5p for plastic bags earns them money, guess which one will be chosen...

The money doesn't go to the government.

And subsidising shredders might save money if it reduces on the frequency of waste collection, etc.

[BrilloPad]

Supermarket plastic bags are just an easy target that people have latched on to, but won't make the slightest difference to landfill volumes in the bigger scheme of things. E.g. a typical family shop say it's 8 carrier bags full. The actual volume of plastic in the 8 plastic bags is miniscule compared to the non-recyclable packaging of the shopping itself.

Personally I think it'd make a bigger impact if shoppers had the option of buying things like coffee, rice, pasta, serials, dried herbs etc. from bulk containers and just fill up paper bags to take home to put in their own containers.

And why do bananas come in plastic wrappers?

[darmstadt]

And why do bananas come in plastic wrappers?

They're not bananas