Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items

Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items

The number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches has fallen by 80% over a decade, since a mandatory fee was imposed on shoppers who opt to pick up single-use carrier bags at the checkout.

According to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual litter survey, volunteers found an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed last year, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.

The charity, which has monitored beach litter for the past three decades, said the drop was undoubtedly due to the introduction of mandatory charges, which can range from 5p to 25p, for single-use plastic bags.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch programme manager at MCS, said: “It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bags working.”

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  • A_A@lemmy.worldEnglish
    251·
    4 months ago

    This 80% reduction endangers new ecosystems feeding on plastics /😋 joke
    Serious now : Bravo for cleaning your places.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      4 months ago

      I’ve been really happy with the ban in NJ also. I had so much fun laughing at the angry people at the grocery store when the law went into effect.

      • AA5B@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        4 months ago

        For sure, it’s annoying. I have so many bags now, and still don’t always remember to bring bags

  • stoly@lemmy.worldEnglish
    111·
    4 months ago

    I hate to say it: what this says is that people in the UK are very willing to litter and that the fix was making it so that they don’t have things to litter.

    • AA5B@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      4 months ago

      Maybe. Have you ever been to a landfill? It’s critical how high the fence is, keeping all the plastic bags from escaping. They really catch the wind

      • stoly@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        That’s true but we’ve also seen photos the day after a festival and it is shocking how people in the UK DGAF.

  • Hugohase@startrek.websiteEnglish
    8·
    4 months ago

    Are they talking about something like this

    Or something like this

    The first one has been forbitten in my country for ~10years and nobody seems to miss them. The second one is used, rarely, for takeout and mostly replaced with paper bags.

    • fakeman_pretendname@feddit.ukEnglish
      6·
      4 months ago

      I think technically it’s both, but it’s mainly focused on the former - the shop and supermarket ones. You now pay 20 or 30p for them - previously when they were free, they would sometimes force a bag on you, even if you didn’t want one (I guess to walk around advertising their shop).

      • Hugohase@startrek.websiteEnglish
        3·
        4 months ago

        Thanks for the answer. I was really surprised how little people complained when the shop ones stopped existing. Seems like induced demand. Back then I kept a few, because they are so handy. Well, never used one.

        • fakeman_pretendname@feddit.ukEnglish
          4·
          4 months ago

          Here they still exist - they just make you pay if you want a new one. I (and seemingly most people) use them all the time still, but I guess more people reuse them more times now. I’m quite happy to pay 30p for one when the old ones get used up. I think they’re a bit sturdier than they used to be too - so less likely for the handles to snap when you’ve still got a mile to walk home.

          I guess it mostly cut down on unwanted ones getting littered etc. Now they’re valuable, all the more reason to hoard them in a cupboard in the kitchen.

          Where you are it sounds like they stopped existing - what do you put your food shopping in? Do you still have a thousand left that you previously hoarded?

          • Redex@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            4 months ago

            I’ve been using the same two synthetic fabric bags for literally 6 years and still haven’t changed them. I sewed up the edges 3 or 4 times to reinforce them, but they’re still kicking and are definitely gonna be around for at least another year. Plus they’re small enough to carry around all the time so I literally haven’t used a store bag in 6 years.

          • Hugohase@startrek.websiteEnglish
            3·
            4 months ago

            I am talking about Austria. Its mostly reusable ones made of fabric, or really sturdy plastic/wofen plastic. If you need a oneway one it’s paper. We anyway had to pay for the shoppingbags as long as I can remember.