A ban or levy on supermarket plastic bags could be imposed in Wales under new green laws.
Sustainabilty minister Jane Davidson is seeking new powers from Westminster for 'green switch' legislation on environmental protection and waste management.
Clwyd West Tory AM Darren Millar said “I can understand why the minister wants to appear tough on grime, tough on the causes of grime, but I’m not so sure this will make a great deal of difference.”
The ban on supermarket plastic bags could be imposed in Wales under radical measures to tackle climate change.
Sustainability minister Ms Davidson was also attracted to German legislation which allowed customers to leave amounts of packaging at the check-outs at shops.
Laws could even target the amount of cigarette litter accumulating outside pubs, shops and offices as an unintended result of the smoking ban.
The suggestions came as AMs discussed the bid to Westminster for extra powers under a Legislative Competence Order (LCO).
Former environment minister Carwyn Jones had said he would consider a ban on plastic bags which were so difficult to dispose of an left a blot on the environment.
“The radical nature of the action is in the hands of Wales,” Ms Davidson said. “What I am doing is providing us with the tools to take the radical action we need.”
UK retailers were committed to reduce plastic bag use by 25% by 2008, she said. “Well, we will see, we may want to do a great deal more.”
Ms Davidson said: “Issues such as litter and graffiti, which are highly visible nuisances that people are faced with every day, can have a significant negative impact on quality of life."
Tory environment spokesman Mr Millar highlighted 40,000 fly-tipping offences, with just one in 100 prosecutions; 86% of smoking related litter in streets turned into ash-trays; and insufficient targets for recycling.
Lib Dems accused the new sustainability minister of ducking the climate change challenge.
Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates said Labour has developed a “green twitch” on the environment instead of the big ‘green switch’ that was needed.
Mr Bates said: “There is no mention of getting the powers over building regulations, large scale energy stations or carbon emissions.”
