Northern Ireland to introduce 5p bag levy in April

A five pence levy on single-use carrier bags will be introduced in Northern Ireland from April 8, after the measure received formal approval from the Northern Ireland Assembly this week.

The charge will apply to all single use bags, including those made from plastic, paper, plant-based material and natural starch.

However, exemptions have been put in place for bags used to contain take-away hot food and drinks, bags used solely for unpackaged food and medical products.

The Northern Ireland Executive hopes to reduce plastic bag usage by as much as 80%, and has estimated that as many as 250 million bags are used in the country each year.
Funds from the levy will go directly to the Department of Environment, and is intended to raise revenue to fund environmental projects.

Milestone

Northern Irelands Environment Minister Alex Attwood, said: The backing from the Assembly is an important milestone in introducing the carrier bag levy. It means the carrier bag levy regime can go live on April 8. Recent statistics have shown a significant increase in single use carrier bags handed out by major supermarkets in Northern Ireland – it is the big retailers which I am most interested in. We can reduce the number of carrier bags by at least 80% – this levy helps.

This is an area where consumers can really help the environment. The image of Northern Ireland as green & clean a major part of the character of our lives and the appeal of this place can be deepened if we deal decisively with carrier bags and the damage they cause.

The key objective of the carrier bag levy is to reduce or eliminate the unnecessary use of bags, regardless of the material from which they are made. The introduction of charging will help to communicate the wider reduce and reuse waste message. The revenue raised from the levy will contribute towards a number of Departmental environmental programmes and activities.”

Increase

The Minister is also proposing to increase the levy to ten pence from April 2014, and is planning to introduce further legislation to the Assembly to push these proposals forward later this year.

The move follows the introduction of a similar carrier bag charge introduced by the Welsh Assembly Government in October 2011, the first of its kind in the UK, where a five pence charge is in operation across all single-use plastic and paper bags. Retailers estimated that the number of single-use bags issued has fallen by between 70 and 96% (see letsrecycle.com story).

Meanwhile, in England, Defra has come under increasing pressure to introduce a levy on single use bags, and has said that it will consider the measure when it is able to analyse full data from the first year of the charge in Wales (see letsrecycle.com story).