Charging For Plastic Bags

[maggiebee]

I know that charges are being introduced by supermarkets for plastic shopping bags and I fully agree with this. However, I took my grandkids to McDonalds and noticed a sign saying that they were starting to charge 5p for paper bags!
Think this is a step too far - how on earth can you get a "Happy Meal" home if it's not in a bag?

[MissCommando]

You don't have to pay for the box the Happy meal comes in, only the paper bags.

[sunny-dave]

Paper litter may be 'biodegradable', but it's still litter.

All bags (paper or plastic) should have the name of the business on them - and the business should be liable for clear up costs from their litter strewing customers.

[hc4361]

Sunny dave, if the plastic bag stamped 'KFC' is reused for collecting an Indian take away and then dumped, should KFC be fined for it?

[sunny-dave]

Yes - although it's a highly unlikely scenario.

People who drop litter are unlikely to have 're-used' the bag first - the two mind-sets are incompatible.

[Old_Geezer]

No need ? All it does is ensure you buy them for if you didn't to carry shopping you'd do so anyway for your kitchen bin. All a con to grab more off the individual citizen.

[hc4361]

It is entirely feasible that after eating their KFC, the litterer puts baby's dirty nappy in the KFC bag and then dumps it.
KFC still liable?

[hc4361]

Charging for carrier bags hasn't done Aldi's trade any harm.

[Buenchico]

The legal requirement (existing in Wales and Northern Ireland and coming into force in Scotland this month) relates to all types of 'single use' carrier bags, irrespective of the material that they're made from. So, in those parts of the UK, McDonalds MUST charge customers for paper bags.

The 5p charge includes an element of VAT but the rest of the money is donated to charity.

When similar legislation comes into force in England in a year's time, it will only apply to PLASTIC single use carrier bags (with a proposed exemption for biodegradable bags, which doesn't apply in the rest of the UK), so McDonald's outlets in England won't charge for paper bags (unless they decide to do so voluntarily).

[Obiter]

When I were a lad, all shops had carrier bags, made out of brown paper with string handles and they cost 2d each. Of course, if you got out of the shop only to find it p!ssing down, your groceries would soon end up on the pavement, along with a dozen broken eggs.