Plastic bag ban gets green light
RETAILERS in Kirkintilloch are being urged to ban plastic bags.
A proposal to make the town one of the first plastic bag free zones in Scotland has been given the go-ahead by councillors.
The initiative will encourage retailers to stop issuing free plastic bags and for shoppers to move towards reusable cloth bags.
It's also possible that in the future a levy could be charged to retailers who continue to give away plastic bags to shoppers.
Already the council has confirmed support from Tesco, Sainsbury's and Boots, with the local authority leading by example and stopping distribution of free bags in all public buildings such as libraries and the Auld Kirk Museum.
Councillor Billy Hendry, convener of the council's development and environment committee, said: "It's clear there is a good level of support for this initiative and I'm delighted that we will be working with retailers on a project which will benefit everyone."
The scheme is being piloted in Kirkintilloch and, if successful, will be rolled-out across East Dunbartonshire.
Plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Over 13billion are given away each year in the UK, with the average shopper receiving five free bags every week.
Experts reckon plastic bags can take between 400 to 1000 years to break-down in the environment.
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Weather for Kirkintilloch
Thursday 23 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: West
