What next for the floundering war on plastic bags?

When is a target not a target? When it's voluntary.

The government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has today attempted to paint an upbeat picture of British supermarkets efforts to curb the use of plastic bags, highlighting figures that show the total number of bags used has fallen by 41 per cent since 2006.

But while supermarkets have clearly made headway in slashing the number of bags handed out, a closer look at WRAP's statistics reveals that efforts to cut bag use have all but stalled.

Back in May 2008 supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement with the government and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) that saw them promise to halve within a year the number of "single-use" bags given out compared to the 2006 baselines. The agreement was trumpted by the supermarkets and the then government as a proportionate and pro-active response to the Daily Mail's high profile "Banish the Bag" campaign, urging the government to legislate to eliminate carrier bags.

Gordon Brown was able to write an opinion piece in the Daily Mail promising to get tough with the supermarkets if they failed to hit the target, while the supermarkets were allowed to demonstrate that they were acting voluntarily to improve their environmental credentials.

Under the watchful eye of WRAP, supermarkets undertook a huge year-long effort to cut single-use carrier bags, finally reporting in May 2009 they had " all-but-met" the 50 per cent target, achieving a satisfactory 48 per cent cut in bags distributed.

But annual figures released by WRAP for the first time this year show that in fact supermarkets cut the number of single use bags in 2008/2009 by just 37 per cent compared to 2006, well below the 48 per cent figure welcomed last year by then environment secretary Hilary Benn.

Moreover, with the voluntary target consigned to the history books to be replaced in July 2009 by a much vaguer agreement containing no set targets, it appears that progress in the war against plastic bags has all but halted.

The 48 per cent cuts heralded last year were calculated by spot checking figures from the month of May. But using that same measure, this year's figures show that in the month of May 2010, supermarkets delivered a year-on-year increase in the number of single use bags handed out.

In May 2010 supermarkets used 45 per cent fewer bags compared to the 2006 baseline, a worse performance than the 48 per cent reduction achieved in 2009.

The annual performance has improved with WRAP reporting that the number of single-use carrier bags handed out during 2009/10 has fallen 43 per cent against the baseline - but this is once again well short of the 50 per cent volutary target.

The BRC initially attempted to defend the performance by pointing out that sales have increased six per cent since 2006, making it harder for supermarkets to meet the voluntary target.

But when pushed a BRC spokesman admitted that progress has plateaued since the project began.

"Those consumers who were already open to change have taken it on board, but the next group of people will be harder to reach, and it will become progressively harder," he told BusinessGreen.com, adding that supermarkets were continuing to work towards their goals of encouraging reuse, recycling and offering customers bags for life.

The supermarkets poor performance has the potential to re-open the debate over whether the government should legislate to tackle plastic bag use, particularly given the Welsh Assembly Government is gearing up to introduce a 7p tax on single use bags.

The new UK environment minister Lord Henley has already indicated that the coalition is likely to adopt a more laissez faire approach to tackling waste levels. "This government believes that businesses, like householders, should be encouraged to do the right thing, rather than tied down or penalised with excessive rules and regulations," he said on a recent trip to the North East.

However a spokeswoman for Defra told BusinessGreen.com today that legislation to tackle carrier bags has not been completely ruled out.

"[The WRAP figures] will be considered as part of our work on the waste review that is looking at all policies needed to reduce the amount of waste generated and to maximise reuse and recycling," she said.

The retail sector is keen to see the plastic bag issue buried once and for all, pointing out that other areas that they are addressing such as energy and water consumption have a far bigger impact on the environment, while the government also appears reluctant to reignite the debate.

All of which begs the question as to what the government and the supermarkets are going to do to try and curb plastic bag use further? Perhaps the answer is nothing, until, of course, the Daily Mail starts putting the issue on the front page again.