Northern Ireland join Wales with plastic bag tax

The Northern Ireland Executive has put forward plans to introduce a 5p tax on single-use plastic bags in 2013, as a reaction to the environmental threat they cause.

Environment minister Alex Attwood described plastic carrier bags as the "scourge of the environment", and referred to similar schemes in other countries that have been successful in deterring the use of plastic bags. The levy will double by 2014 under the proposed ruling, which is hoped to bring about "significant environmental improvement".

Plastic single-use carrier bags are usually only used for 20 minutes, but take up to 1,000 years to rot away. The bags have significant implications on the environment, such as marine animals that suffer long and painful deaths after ingesting or getting entangled in them.

A similar scheme has been implemented in Wales which has significantly reduced the number of bags issued at the tills. The money raised from the tax is reinvested into environmental causes, such as tackling litter. The Republic of Ireland also have carrier bag fees which have been in place since 2002 and now stand at 22 cents (18p). The move by Northern Ireland adds pressure on David Cameron to introduce similar reforms in England.  

Attwood concluded: "I am committed to making Northern Ireland a better place to live, work and invest and this will certainly contribute to that goal.

"One way to do that is to reduce the 160 million plastic bags that are used in Northern Ireland every year."

Posted by Lauren Steadman