I actually like the idea of a surcharge on plastic/paper bags, and I do think it reduces consumption. By asking people if they wish to pay extra for bags, I imagine most will think a bit harder about whether or not it is worth the extra cost (even if that extra cost is relatively insignificant). Even if only 20% of people said ‘no’, or used reusable bags, that is a significant reduction in consumption overall.
I disagree with this. Ideally, yes, it would be great if this money went to environmental projects. Realistically though, I don’t feel that the money would ever go to these projects, and/or there would be bureaucratic inefficiencies at play. This kind of thing happens all the time with public utilities… rates go up because of shortages of power/water/whatever, the utility companies pitch that the extra revenue will go to infrastructure improvements yada yada, and then nothing ever really happens.
I think allowing the retailers to profit on the bag surcharges is the best choice. They are the ones who originally paid for the bags via overhead costs, therefore they should be allowed to keep the extra income. It’s a win-win really… customers use less bags, and businesses profit.