Sir, - The introduction of the 10p plastic bag eco-tax is long awaited and so welcome. In annual Coastwatch Europe surveys, Ireland's record in this respect has been dismal. With more than 1,000 sites covered, volunteer surveyor counts came to an average of almost 29 plastic bags per kilometre of shore last autumn. This was an increase over 1998 and 1997 counts.
Finally a real effort has been made to reverse this trend.
There have been various fiscal incentives in other North European countries to reduce, reuse or recycle packaging waste. Some were targeted at items which we pick up in our survey as marine litter. It seems that incentives aimed directly at the consumer have one advantage over others borne by industry: they bring a drastic and lasting drop in the coastal litter. So we look forward to a significant fall in the number of plastic bags found this autumn. - Yours, etc.,
Karin Dubsky, International Co-ordinator, Coastwatch Europe, Ballymoney, Co Wexford.