5p bag charge: who gets your money?

Individual retailers decide where to send their carrier bag proceeds

All single-use carrier bags now cost a minimum of 5p in Wales

On October 1^st, the Welsh Government implemented a compulsory carrier bag charge. The expected £2-3 million raised in the first year will go to supporting local and/or environmental causes.

While a Welsh Government spokesperson promises that, “No money from the charge will come to government,” the official carrier bag charge website states that, “We can’t tell retailers what to do with the money.”

It is up to the consumers to help ensure that the proceeds do indeed go to good causes. The spokesperson explains that enforcement will be “largely driven by complaints that retailers are not complying with the requirements of the legislation.”

Therefore, if you want to know what exactly you are supporting with your 5p, you will have to ask in-store.

Following the money:

alt.cardiff has investigated what causes some of the Cardiffians will be supporting with their 5p coins.

While the big chains Starbucks and Waterstones choose to support the National Literacy Trust in Wales and the Children’s Literacy Fund Wales respectively, the charity boutique Joie de Vivre in the Royal Arcade sends its bag charge proceeds to The Lord’s Taverns. Blackwell’s bookshop in the Students’ Union, however, doesn’t know where its proceeds go, as they are sent to the Welsh Assembly.

While the government will ensure that the money goes to charities, it seems very varied what charities will actually benefit from the charge.