Carrier bag levy to increase to 25p, Poots announces

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

The carrier bag levy charge in Northern Ireland is to increase from 5p to 25p from next April.

Environment Minister Edwin Poots made the announcement during a statement to the Assembly on Northern Ireland’s first overarching environment strategy.

In addition to the rise in the levy, Mr Poots also announced an extension to the existing pricing threshold, which will see all bags priced at £5 or less subject to the levy, irrespective of the material they are made from.

He said: “Whilst the existing carrier bag levy has been successful in already removing over 1.7 billion bags from circulation, I am aware that a significant number of retailers in Northern Ireland are selling large volumes of heavy duty bags at a cost of 20p or more each.

“These are now flooding the market and are not being reused, with harmful environmental consequences.

The Minister says the profits will be invested into the environmental sector

“This announcement will go some way towards making Northern Ireland a cleaner and more pleasant place in which to live, by ensuring that proceeds from the levy are re-invested in supporting the wider environmental sector.

“By continuing to work together we can help meet the New Decade, New Approach commitment on eliminating plastic pollution.”

The minister continued: “It is unacceptable that far too much plastic ends up as pollution in our environment or waste in our landfills.

“My department will continue to work hard on the issue of the circular economy, eliminating plastic pollution and tackling throwaway culture.

“With over five trillion single use plastic bags used worldwide every year and plastic waste set to quadruple by 2050, I would encourage everyone to play their part locally and re-use bags whenever they can.”

The Environment Minister wants to phase-out use of plastic carrier bags