Shoppers are being urged to reuse bags as the carrier bag levy goes up on April 1.
The new charge was signed off by Minister Poots ahead of COP26 and means retailers must now charge at least 25p for every shopping bag they sell.
It applies to all bags up to the cost of £5.
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All proceeds from the scheme are paid to the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs which then uses the fund to support environmental projects.
The carrier bag levy was first introduced in Northern Ireland by former Environment Minister Mark H Durkan in 2013.
Until now the charge has remained at 5p per bag even as retailers increased costs for bags for life and other supermarket shoppers.
The aim of the scheme was to reduce the number of single use plastic bags used in Northern Ireland and it saw that number drop from 300 million in 2012 to just over 56 million last year.
The levy applies to carrier bags of all materials - not just plastic bags - and is charged when:
- you buy goods like groceries or clothing
- goods are delivered or collected from premises (click and collect), where carrier bags are used.
Retailers set the price of their bags which means that prices may vary. However, only the proceeds of the levy are paid to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said increasing the levy was "a brave move in the fight against plastic pollution" when Minister Poots made the announcement around the time of COP26.
"This will hopefully deter throw away culture and consumer dependency on single use plastics and instead encourage consumers to be more sustainably-minded and reuse shopping bags," he said.
“The announcement comes in the midst of COP26 which has served as an excellent platform to us all to acknowledge that the environmental challenges that face us are very real and immediate. If we all commit to small changes now, such as reusing plastic bags or not purchasing them at all, it will have a hugely positive impact.”
Minister Poots said as he introduced the change in September: "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 NI are selling large volumes of heavy duty bags at a cost of 20 pence or more each.
"These are now flooding the market and are not being reused, with harmful environmental consequences. 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 NI environmental sector.
"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."
From 1 April 2022 , the levy does not apply when bags:
- only contain items such as unpackaged food, seeds and bulbs, axes, knives or razor blades, goods contaminated by soil and some medicinal products
- are of certain sizes and used only to contain packaged uncooked meat or fish
- contain take-away hot food and hot drinks
- are sealed transit bags at restricted areas in airports
- are specialist bags, such as mail order and courier bags
- bags made of any material, with maximum dimension of 125mm (width) x 155mm (height) and a maximum gusset of 50mm
- are specialist bags, such as mail order and courier bags
- live aquatic
- are supplied for free to replace worn out ‘bags for life’
- are carrier bags with a retail price of more than £5 contain items or appliances supplied under a prescription
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