A 15 per cent levy will be applied to most plastic shopping bags provided at retail shopping outlets from next Monday, under regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey. It is a positive development in what has been a grey and inadequate world of environmental protection. In view of all the criticisms the Minister has suffered because of illegal land-fills, water pollution and inadequate waste disposal systems, it is proper that a positive development of this nature should be applauded.
The legislative initiative was resisted for some time by retailers and by the companies which produced the items. But the scale of the pollution being caused in urban and rural areas by disposable plastic bags was such that it drew the attention of the European Commission and caused Fianna Fáil to promise remedial action before the last general election. It was estimated that 1.2 billion shopping bags were provided free at retail outlets last year, amounting to roughly 325 bags per person per year. The staggering waste involved and the environmental effect littered hedgerows and roadsides throughout the State. And the disposable culture it reflected contributed to the growing amount of domestic refuse that had to be disposed of in land-fill sites.
Ireland is one of the least tidy of the EU member-states. Litter, unfortunately, seems to be part of what we are. It is only when citizens return from abroad that they realise just how badly we compare with our neighbours. But it need not be so. The examples provided by many communities participating in Tidy Towns competitions show just what can be done when civic spirit is effectively invoked.
This initiative by the Minister will go some way towards removing a scourge from Irish life. While plastic bags, in themselves, represented an initial convenience for the consumer, their abuse cancelled out that benefit. For the past number of years, the larger supermarkets have encouraged a shift in consumer awareness by making large, reusable plastic carrier bags available at a reasonable cost.
Smaller plastic bags will still be provided free of charge where food safety is an issue, as in the sale of fresh meat, fish and poultry. The money raised by the levy will be used to pay for waste management, litter control and other environmental initiatives.