Government ready to act on plastic bags - PM

29 February 2008

Gordon Brown has said that the Government is ready to take the "necessary steps" to bring about a reduction in Britain's plastic bag consumption in an effort to improve the environment and cut pollution.

• Read the full article in the Daily Mail (new window)

Writing in the Daily Mail newspaper today, Mr Brown said it was time for the Government, individuals and supermarkets to "accept our own responsibility for ending the environmental damage we are causing".

He said:

"I want to make it clear that if Government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps. We do not take such steps lightly - but the damage that single-use plastic bags inflict on the environment is such that strong action must be taken."

The Prime Minister praised the example of retailers like Ikea, which removed single-use plastic bags from its stores last July, and Marks and Spencer, which yesterday announced it will charge 5p for each one issued.

In November, Mr Brown held a forum with retailers to discuss how the 13 billion plastic bags given out to UK shoppers every year can be eliminated. In today's article the PM went a step further and warned that legislation coul dbe enacted to btring about change.

Mr Brown added that despite taking steps to reduce his carbon footprint, such as installing solar panels at his Scottish home and using low-energy electrical appliances, his family found themselves with "a bin full of plastic bags'' from supermarket deliveries. Such disposable bags represent "one of the most visible and most easily reducible forms of waste'', he said.

He continued:

"My approach is this: if we want others to change, we must make it easier for people to make the right choices. That applies to individual things each of us do, and also what our firms and shops do. So the Government is ready to do what it can to encourage a change in the way we use these bags.''

Mr Brown said he would look at initiatives from around the world before deciding how to push ahead with the next steps on eliminating disposable bags.

• Speech on climate change

Image copyright: Reuters