Levies on shopping bags imminent

Swakopmund Municipality’s health services department introduced a plan to curb the indiscriminate use of plastic shopping bags in the town.

Stakeholders involved in the plan include Rio Tinto’s Rössing Uranium, Plastic Packaging, and the various supermarkets including Spar, Pick ‘n Pay, Woermann Brock and Shoprite.Berdine Potgieter, of the municipality’s health department, who is also co-ordinating the ‘Swakopmund Recycling Project’ (SRP) told The Namibian that the unmanaged use of plastic bags, which contributes to the polluting of the ocean and the surrounding desert and plains, is having a detrimental effect on the natural environment which is very senstive, as well as the tourism industry.Some of the specific concerns are that birds and marine animals get entangled in the bags, or choke on them; and also that the bags are easily carried away into the surrounding areas with the prevailing winds.’The problem is that consumers are used to the free plastic bag handouts at shops and therefore almost no bags are reused,’ she said.To address the impacts the SRP was established, and some of its aims are to produce a by-law that will guide the implementation of a levy per plastic shopping bag issued; reduce negative impacts of plastic bags on the environment; raise awareness amongst the public of Swakopmund; encourage recycling; and for all retail shops to ‘buy in’.The plan could even be as radical as the abolishment of the use of plastic bags and that a policy or by-law in this regard is passed.According to her, the steering committee approved a strategy to raise awareness on the excessive use of plastic shopping bags, but also realised that the need exists to create sufficient recycling depots at randomly-selected places in town to cater for the depositing of glass, paper and tin products. ‘After discussing the pros and cons of several recycling activities, it was decided that participating retail outlets will introduce a levy for the use of plastic shopping bags,’ she explained.It was also approved that 50 per cent of the levy to be charged per plastic bag will be deposited into the account of the retail outlet while the rest will be deposited in a local environmental fund. This levy may be introduced by as soon as end November.This fund will be jointly managed by the Municipality of Swakopmund, stakeholders and the participating outlets. The fund is meant to subsidise environmental projects such as clean-up and recycling activities.