Plastic bags: a hard habit to break
SA’s unofficial national flower isn’t going anywhere: a tax on plastic bags has not discouraged their use
The single-use plastic bag came into existence innocently enough. It provided a quick and simple way for consumers to lug around their groceries in one go, making a second trip to the car unnecessary. The plastic bag also came in handy for picking up doggy-doo or for the disposal of household trash after the bin liners ran out. But, slowly, the once-loved bag has been transformed into a pest, one that both government and environmentalists are finding difficult to remove. Not even the plastic bag tax, which was introduced in 2003, has been able to eradicate SA’s unofficial national flower. Data from the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) shows that only 7.2% of urban households recycle. Retailers and suppliers are reported to have made about R5bn from plastic bags between 2003 and late 2014. Across the sea, in Australia, supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles announced last month that they would phase out single-use plastic bags from their stores by July 2018. The i...
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