Plastic bag RIP-OFF to start in Vic

Select Vic supermarkets will charge for plastic bags.

A 10 cent levy on plastic bags at supermarkets will be trialled in regional Victoria after a go-ahead from the consumer watchdog.

The trial will test how shoppers feel about being charged 10 cents for each plastic bag they use, and is likely to have national implications.

The four-week trial is set to begin in mid-August involving Coles, Woolworths and IGA outlets in Narre Warren, Wangaratta and Warrnambool.

The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) will use the trial to see how shoppers respond to being charged for each plastic bag they use.

The data it gathers will help the retail industry and the Victorian government devise a strategy on reducing plastic bag use.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Graeme Samuel said the trial would help all governments to determine the most effective way to cut the use of the bags.

"The ACCC considers that the proposed trial has the potential to result in benefits to the public, by providing some evidence of the extent to which the charge will reduce bag usage," Mr Samuel said in a statement.

"Consumers in Narre Warren, Wangaratta and Warrnambool can avoid the charge on plastic bags by bringing their own carry bags," he said.

Profits made during the trial will go towards environmental projects.

In April, federal and state environment ministers failed to agree on imposing a ban or levy on plastic bags.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett last month said the Rudd government remained committed to phasing them out under an extended timeline.

A spokesman for Mr Garrett's office on Thursday said the ministers had agreed to consider a range of options, including the results of the Victorian trial, at their next meeting in November.

The governments would consider a national voluntary retailer charge for the bags once the results of the trial were known.

The ministers had also agreed to convene a government-industry working group to increase the use of reusable "green" bags and reduce consumption of plastic bags.

"That work has already started," the spokesman said.

KNOCK THIS RIP-OFF IN THE HEAD PEOPLE, IF THEY CHARGE YOU, STATE THE FOLLOWING:

"IF YOU CHARGE ME 60 cents - FOR 6 PLASTIC BAGS - THEN YOU CAN KEEP YOUR $450.00 WORTH OF SHOPPING.

I'LL JUST GO ELSEWHERE, YOU DO THE MATHS, JUST BE QUICK ABOUT IT - Coles, Woolworths & IGA...

THE AVERAGE CITIZEN IS NOT THE BIGGEST POLLUTER IN SOCIETY AND IT IS NOT AS IF WE ARE NOT PAYING ENOUGH AS IT IS, STARTING AT THE PETROL BOWSER...

Cheers,

CHRISTOS BOMBEROPOULOS