Shoppers will be charged for carrier bags from tomorrow but a Sunday Post probe can reveal charity proceeds could be swallowed by retailers and the taxman.
The controversial 5p tax is being ushered in to help alleviate the damaging effect plastic bags have on the environment.
The levy is meant to provide a cash windfall for charities nominated by retailers. But The Sunday Post can reveal much of the promised cash will never make it to the needy causes.
Instead critics say it will be swallowed by the taxman and in retailer administration fees.
Bill MacDonald, of the Carrier Bag Consortium, who fought the legislation, said: “There is no legislative or legal obligation whatsoever on retailers to donate any portion of the net proceeds of the charge to charity or good causes.
“All it does is open the doors to the unscrupulous who will see the charge as a way to making a fast buck and some easy pocket money.”
When the Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead announced the move last June he promised the cash would be given to good causes.
But last night the Scottish Government said it was powerless to force shops to hand over the promised cash to charity.
And, with some of the biggest names on the high street yet to sign up to the Carrier Bag Commitment pledge to hand over charity cash, we can reveal discussions are still ongoing about charity proceeds, and where they will go, on the eve of the tax launch.
Government quango Zero Waste Scotland has been drumming up support for the pledge.
Its spokesman said: “We are encouraging all retailers to sign up to our Carrier Bag Commitment. This voluntary agreement asks retailers to donate to good causes in Scotland, particularly ones that benefit the environment.
“The commitment also asks signatories to record the number of bags sold and how the money was used, through a central portal.
“Signatories include Superdry, Marks and Spencer, McDonald’s, Holland and Barrett and The Co-operative Group.
“More than 160 retailers across Scotland have registered an interest in the Carrier Bag Commitment and we are in positive discussions with trade associations as well as a wide variety of individual retailers about taking their commitment forward.”
Instead of signing up to the pledge, retailers are making their own plans to donate proceeds to charity.
But the percentage of the 5p they will eventually hand over varies dramatically with some refusing to say what they will give.
The fees have been welcomed by environmentalists as a way of ridding the country of the scourge of plastic bags which scientists say can exist in the environment for around 500 years before being broken down into toxic fragments for good.
Monday’s charge is being brought in to tackle Scotland’s worrying litter problem, which is exacerbated by the 750 million bags handed out to shoppers north of the Border every year.
Campaigners say they plague Scotland’s beautiful landscape and cost a fortune to remove from roadsides and shores.
The bag charge will be applicable on everything from plastic bags to paper bags and from clothes stores to Chinese and Indian takeaways. Bags will not be considered VAT-exempt and as such 1p from each 5p sale will go to the taxman’s coffers.
Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said there was a clear need for it as Scots used more than 800 million new single-use carrier bags every year more per head than anywhere else in the UK.
He said: “That is something we want to change our effort will start tomorrow when every retailer in Scotland will charge shoppers at least 5p for each single-use carrier bag they are given.”
Despite the minister’s clear vision, many small businesses are ill-prepared for the changes.
A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland said: “It’s clearly going to be a difficult few weeks as people get their heads around the changes.”
He said: “It’s largely snuck up on us. Because of the Commonwealth Games and then the referendum not many column inches have been devoted to this huge change. I don’t think many people know it’s happening.”
Scotland is the third region of the UK to introduce a bag charge. After Ireland introduced a fee in 2002, Northern Ireland and Wales have followed suit.
However, their systems are different with Northern Ireland adding a tax on the use of plastic bags.
Scotland is modelling itself on Wales’ model introduced in 2011 of charging for bags.
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