Plans to introduce a mandatory charge for carrier bags must be postponed until businesses have time to adapt to upcoming waste regulations.

Successfully implementing planned new waste rules will be a huge challenge for government and businesses and will require big changes by small businesses.

A mandatory bag charge, recognised as primarily symbolic by the Scottish Government, seems like a frivolous distraction.

Independent retailers distribute a small proportion of the total number of single-use bags requested by customers on an annual basis.

The proposed rules on bags should be postponed until these same businesses have had a chance to adapt to Scotland’s biggest ever shake-up in the field of business waste.

In the meantime, if the Scottish Government still regards plastic bag distribution as a key problem, they should start with the businesses which distribute the vast majority – namely, the supermarkets and the large multiples.

Andy Willox
Scottish Policy Convenor, Federation of Small Businesses