PRESS RELEASE 12/1845/3

INDUSTRY HITS BACK AT ‘BREAK THE BAG HABIT CAMPAIGN’ -

The UK industry which supplies all types of carrier bagshas hit back at a new campaign called “Break the Bag Habit” which, it says, repeats unfounded ‘greenwash’ with the cynical aim of justifying a bag tax.

The new campaign by Keep Britain Tidy, the Marine Conservation Society and the Council for the Protection of Rural England is “yet another attempt to override science by repeating spin which flies in the face of Environment Agency evidence” says industry - which claims that the current voluntary agreement has resulted in 51% less virgin plastic in carrier bags and 65% less carbon impacts.

Launching its own vigorous response, the trade associations representing carrier bags and the wider plastics and flexible packaging industry have written to all UK MPs and major UK retailers pointing out the flaws in the latest campaign and urging them to stick to the voluntary code of practice.“The rigorous Environment Agency Life Cycle Analysis (SC 030148) clearly demonstrates that alternatives to the lightweight plastic bag require far more of the earth’s precious resources to produce and have far higher impacts across a life cycle. We believe this new campaign is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts contained in this report and by targeting carrier bags diverts attention and resources from the macro- environmental issues we face” says the letter from the Carrier Bag Consortium and the Packaging and Films Association.

We are particularly surprised at the about turn from Keep Britain Tidy whose statistical surveys have constantly reinforced the insignificant impacts of carrier bags on the environment,” said Barry Turner PAFA CEO. “Why is Keep Britain Tidy targeting carrier bags when surveys show they represent just 0.03% of littered items in our environment?”(Keep Britain Tidy for Incpen as part of the Local Environmental Quality Survey for England (2008-9).

Paul Marmot, Chairman of CBC, joined in condemning the ‘Break the Bag Habit’ campaign. “Good environmental practice is about reducing impacts, reusing resources and recycling at the end of life. The plastic carrier bag offers all of these routes to becoming the most environmentally acceptable solution for carrying goods home because it has the lowest impacts in production and transportation, is re-used by around 80% of households (DEFRA/WRAP/IPSOS/MORI 2007 Studies) and can easily be recycled using more than 5,000 collection points at our supermarkets” he said.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Industry points out that, by extrapolating the Environment Agency analysis, the UK’s entire annual consumption of 6.5 billion plastic carrier bags (already halved from 13 billion by voluntary action) has equivalent carbon impacts to just one average 8 mile journey for every car in the UK. Put another way, it states that the entire annual UK plastic carrier bag consumption has the same carbon impacts as around 2 hours of flight activity at Heathrow Airport.

Plastic bags are just 0.025% of landfill or 0.2% of the average dustbin.

14August 2012

For further information please contact:

Peter Woodall

PRP Consulting LLP

Tel: 0115 958 0403

Fax: 0115 948 3098

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