The Australian state of Victoria will this week begin a trial programme whereby it will charge consumers for each plastic bag at three shopping centres, hoping it will reduce the amount of wasted bags that ultimately end up in land refill sites.
Img: Plastic bags at a waste site. Credit: Zainub/flickr
Shoppers will be charged a $0.10 AUD government and industry charge for each plastic shopping bag at major supermarket chains in Fountain Gate, Wangarratta and Warrnambool. The trial will last for four weeks, after which the results will be assessed by the government.
Victorian Environment Minister Gavin Jennings is calling for the support of shoppers to reduce the use of plastic bags and hopes, if successful, the scheme will be rolled out across the nation.
"We think people want to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfill and ending up in the waste stream, and this is an encouragement for them to use those reusable and recyclable bags," he said.
Jennings added that, while certainly very convenient for carry shopping, plastic bags are a major environmental problem.
"While plastic bags are very convenient -- shoppers love them and take home a billion of them a year in Victoria -- they have a long-term environmental downside," he said.
The results of the month-long trial will be made public at a meeting of state environment ministers in November.
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