Viewpoint: It’s not easy being green

This has been a long time coming, leading to thousands of retailers taking it upon themselves to charge voluntarily for bags in the meantime to be able to demonstrate they are doing something to help the environment, and boost fundraising for local charities.

When the bag charge first came into force in England, there was a lot of confusion and frustration from customers who were not willing to pay for a bag. We hope that now, years down the line as we are, customers will be well acquainted with the idea of paying for a bag and will hopefully just bring their own instead. This may be the beginning of the end for the single-use plastic bag.

The bag charge is of course just one of the many environmental interventions on the government’s agenda, the most ambitious of which is the deposit return scheme (DRS) scheduled to come into force in 2024. There are still many unanswered questions on the viability of DRS, especially for the smallest stores. We have made it clear to government there should be a strategically mapped network of return points (as opposed to every store being forced to take part) and that there are huge operational and health and safety issues with manual returns, not to mention the controversial inclusion of glass within the scope of the scheme.

We will of course continue to make the case to government for a well-designed DRS, as we have for the inclusion of all stores within the bag charge. In the meantime, the best thing you as a retailer can do right now is to shout about your environmental credentials, whether it be raising money for environmental charities, taking part in litter-picks, offering recycling facilities or even providing refills on products in-store. It is this activity that really resonates with consumers and MPs.

James Lowman is chief executive at the ACS