Confusion, check-out arguments feared as England charges for plastic bags

England became the last part of Britain Monday to intro a charge for single-use plastic shopping bags.

But organisations representing retails said they feared arguments at store pay points over "red tape" rules which mean some bags will still be free.

The five pence, or eight cents, a time charge is aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags issued to shoppers in supermarkets, currently running at a staggering 21 million every day, or 7.64 billion a year, or 133 bags for every person.

The money raised from shoppers for the bags is expected to raise 730 million pounds (about 1.11 billion U.S. dollars) over 10 years for charities, the government said in a statement.

In the run up to the introduction of the charge some supermarkets have been giving away free multi-use bags to encourage customers to bring their own shopping bags on future shopping expeditions.

Most store chains have been running training exercises for front-line shop staff, particularly focusing on handling disputes from irate shoppers.

The charge applies to all major supermarkets and other major retailers, but will not be forced on smaller family run corner shops. Some small businesses will introduce the charge on a voluntary basis.

The British Retail Consortium said: "The carrier bag charge for England is unnecessarily complicated and not consistent with the simple approach taken elsewhere in the UK."

The change in the law in England follows the success of similar schemes in Scotland and in Wales where the charge led to a 79 percent decrease in plastic bags in three years.

Government Environment Minister Rory Stewart said: "The more bags we take from the shops, the more plastic makes its way into our environment, blighting our high streets, spoiling our enjoyment of the countryside, and damaging our wildlife and marine environments."

"Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have seen a dramatic fall in the number of plastic bags taken from supermarkets and we can expect a significant reduction in England, possibly by as much as 80 percent in supermarkets and 50 percent on the high street," said the minister.

Even with the new rule, there will be exemptions to the charge for people needing bags that only contain items such as as unwrapped food, raw meat and fish, prescription medicines, uncovered blades, seeds, bulbs and flowers, or live fish.

Critics of the scheme say the exemptions to the charge will provoke arguments at check-out points. They also criticise the government for demanding one penny of every 5 pence charge go to the government treasury as VAT, or value added tax.

A recent poll among shoppers in England revealed more than 60 percent backed the decision to charge for bags, with over half saying it should be imposed in all stores, big and small. Endit