Letters | Wednesday, 25 February 2009

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It is very unfortunate that I have to rectify the impression created in an article by Vince Farrguia in last Sunday’s MaltaToday, but I simply cannot allow any wrong impression on a topic which, apart from knowing very well, is also close to my heart – the plastic bag issue.
Please also note I haven’t just entered this debate, and have no personal agenda. The plastic carrier bag market is a very small part of my business, and I have been involved in the matter well before government has. My family’s business introduced to Malta green bags (d2w Oxo-Biodegradable) over seven years ago, and I have kept abreast of the international developments ever since.
Does Mr Vince Farrugia know that the proposed measures by the government will do nothing but encourage the sale of conventional non-degradable plastic and paper bags?
One could argue that people could revert to cloth bags but this has not picked up in any developed country due to practicality reasons. It’s far from rocket science really. A green plastic bag is obviously (although marginally) more expensive than conventional plastic, so if all bags, regardless of environmental effect, get taxed at the same rate, it is conventional plastic that will be the item sold and not oxo-green plastics, as this cost is borne by the shop and everyone will opt for the cheaper alternative.
With a 15c tax a large percentage of the market will revert to paper bags and these are already being offered. This was expected, considering the price of a paper bag is approx €0.06 per bag. Did Mr Farrugia know that paper bags have a much larger carbon footprint? Did anyone think that paper bags come from anything but trees being cut down? Since the gentleman represents the retailers, were these informed that they need seven times more storage space for these paper bags and therefore seven times more fuel for their transport? Hasn’t it crossed Mr Farrugia’s and the relevant ministry’s mind that paper bags cannot be used for litter as with plastic bags? Are we going to revert to having the garbage bins outside our homes?
Unlikely! What is going to happen however is that people are going to spend more money (which we could all do without) buying garbage bags to throw away the rubbish. And what are garbage bags made of? Plastic! They also are larger and heavier than carrier bags so in essence the plastic bag problem is going to be on the rise (they just won’t have handles – very clever!).
I am no fortune teller. I have just looked at the whoe picture of what occured in the country which pioneered in the banning of plastic, namely Ireland. (FACT: two major Irish supermarket sales figures got an average of 75% increase in garbage bag sales). Apparently we dont even learn from other people’s mistakes. This would actually affect my business greatly in terms of turnover, but is this what is good for the environment? No.
The government wants to eradicate plastic and it should not do so by stopping the use of a type of bag, only to increase it on another one. What should be done is to promote the use of environmental alternatives because you and the retailers will always need bags.
I have to also comment on what seems to be the only environmental concern Mr Farrugia has mentioned, the eyesore of plastic bags – is this the only drawback? Because paper bags can also fly, and so will the bags which would have the government print. The large majority of plastic bags end up in landfills and this is why experts have come up with green plastics, so that they do not occupy space in landfills; and if there’s something Malta lacks, it’s space.
This technology also exists because conventional plastic bags truly can be called killers, but is this true for green plastics? Definitely not. These bags also have characteristics of decomposing with less CO2 emissions, of digesting inside an animal’s stomach and of having a secondary use, a garbage bag. I cannot understand how the government (and Mr Farrugia seems to be all praise for it), has created a scenario wherein these green plastic bags cannot be feasibly marketed. Green Policy? Hello!
What we must wake up to is actually very simple: that before we take drastic decisions or write articles whose scope should purely be the good of the environment, we ascertain ourselves that what we are writing and deciding upon is substantiated and proven, to be good for the environment.
Apparently we haven’t even looked at a European country’s experience and learnt from it, and this begs the question: what studies, talk or forums have been done prior to taking this detour, and how on earth does the director-general of a union come to talk so surely about such a niche subject when I can list a number of problems his members will face with the proposal he is backing? One of which begs to be mentioned, that retailers can take their bags to Wasteserv against the payment of the eco-contribution paid. And what about the cost of the bag? Are we telling retailers to waste money by shredding bags they legally bought? I know of shops that have bought a year’s supply. Do we just tell him to throw them away?
How about we stick to what we know? Have I missed some crash course in becoming Captain Planet overnight? I have to agree with Mr Farrugia that it is very satisfying when one does something right, but what’s important is that it’s actually done that way too. Words alone make one sound right but as far as I’m informed, this measure is about the environment and not about sounding right.
How about all stakeholders meet round a table with a knowledgable chairman and trash it out until we’re all satisfied? It won’t be too hard if everyone understands the real scope of this measure: the good of the environment. Wishful thinking!

Ben Farrugia
Longbow Limited

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