Its in the bag

2003-05-09 22:51

Wolfram Zwecker

Johannesburg - South Africa's national flower, plastic bags, died quietly on Friday with the implementation of new regulations for a thicker, re-usable and environmentally friendly plastic bag.

At shopping malls in Johannesburg and Sandton shoppers at Checkers, Pick 'n Pay and Woolworths changed over to the new bags without a fuss.

The new regulations state that the shops may not use the old, thin plastic bags anymore and that plastic bags may not be distributed free of charge.

Shoppers have to either buy the new bags, which have to conform to 30micron thickness, or supply their own bags. The name of the shop or any advertisement may also appear on only a certain percentage of the bag's surface.

Pedro Murta of Woolworths in Sandton says his group fully supports the new regulations and all staff members have been trained to handle the change-over.

"Everywhere in the shops, as well as at check-out counters, we have information about how much the bags cost and why we are changing over to the new ones.

"On Monday we will lower the price of certain goods, which were previously 'loaded' to carry the cost of 'free' bags.

"We think the consumer should receive the kick-back. We do not pay for the new bags and therefore we cannot make up the difference in the price of our products," he said. "The shopper now pays for the bags, or use his own, and should get the kick-back."

Mary Metcalfe, MEC for the environment, visited a few shops on Friday morning to check the situation and said it "appears as if everyone knows what to expect and the change-over is going without a hitch".

Southgate Pick 'n Pay manager Jabu Dlamini said they had no problems.

Their employees also received training "and if a client is difficult, he will be escorted to the manager's office", he said.

Shopper Adele Billings said shoppers would soon get used to the new regulations.

Ziphora Ramena, another shopper, said she thought people making use of taxis were going to encounter problems. "It's going to be difficult if you have to buy something and you don't have a bag with you. You will have to buy one."

- Beeld