Time for bag tax says local Euro MP

1.21.55pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 12th Jun 2007

As the EU's Green Week gets underway local Euro MP Diana Wallis has renewed her call for a tax on plastic carrier bags as an environmental measure.

The plan would be to tax individuals 10p each time they used a plastic carrier bag from the supermarket or other retailer. The money raised would then go into supporting environmental projects.

Diana Wallis who has long supported such a tax said in Brussels this morning:

"The local supermarket here in Brussels is informing customers that a new tax on single-use plastic bags comes will come into effect in Belgium next month. This eco~tax is designed to change habits and the reaction of people I talk to is positive. We can learn a lot from the Belgians who already recycle over two/thirds of their rubbish.

"We have billions of plastic bags in the UK and although the retailers such as Sainsbury have introduced various individual, uncoordinated promotions to cut down on plastic bag issue they clearly haven't worked. We have to go beyond this and introduce a tax.

"Since launching my campaign a tax on plastic carrier bags in November 2005, I have taken it to all parts of Yorkshire and the Humber and the response has been very encouraging. People want to play their part and this is a simple and effective way of doing that. The UK Government should now start to introduce legislation just as other European countries are."