’A concerning void in the Isle of Man’s statute book.’

That is the message from the Isle of Man Green Party to Manx residents, shop owners and politicians concerning a plastic bag charge on the island.

Andrew Newton, leader of the Green Party, said: ’The Isle of Man is the only jurisdiction in the British Isles not to charge for plastic carrier bags as a matter of law.

’As an island priding itself with self-identification as the first entire island nation state to be elevated to status of a "biosphere" region legislation of the nature of a plastic bag duty seems self evident if the island is to retain this ennoblement at a future juncture.’

Mr Newton told the Examiner he recognised that the House of Keys has recently taken some ideas into consideration, but he said the politicans needed to support it with action.

He said: ’I would like to see a joined-up consideration throughout government of a policy reflected in procurement and where plastics use is managed and curtailed wherever possible.

’The government is a large consumer and its decision making on the procurement of single use plastic cups, of plastic straws, and others will not only send a positive signal to the private and third sectors.

’There should be large support over this, particularly as the island continues to celebrate and publicise our biosphere status.’

There has been moves by some companies to limit the amount of plastic bags customers use.

Boots and M&S have been charging for carrier bags for a number of years. Tesco has been using the charge for bags to donate back into the Manx community via the use of the blue token system where three organisations/ charities share the proceeds.

Shoprite has also announced that free plastic bags will end on March 5, from then on, single use bags will cost 5p and a bag for life 10p with the money going to a local charity.

In the UK, it was reported usage fell by 85% from 7bn in the year before the charge down to just over 500m in the first six months after the charge was introduced.

Other companies have also made steps to reduce plastic usage, including Rock Food Concepts and Costa which both now using wheat based materials in straws, rather than plastic.

MannVend now offers plastic-free catering disposables such as bowls and plates while Robinson’s has started selling loose fruit and veg and M&S are promising to reduce the plastic packaging on food items.

Mr Newton explained the surge in opposition to modern society’s use of plastic has been driven by many people, including Sir David Attenborough. During his Blue Planet II series on the BBC, he called on viewers to reduce plastic waste from the 8m tons of plastic that get into the world’s oceans every year.

Blue Planet finished with a warning that island nations should perhaps consider more so than others: ’Surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet. The future of humanity, and indeed all life on Earth, now depends on us.’

The Isle of Man Green Party is holding an extraordinary general meeting in March and can be contacted on Facebook by searching greenpartyiom, Twitter: @green_iom or email [email protected]

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