Call for plastic bag levy: Wilson [Community Telegraph]

Written by Anne Wilson and published in Community Telegraph on Fri 18th Aug 2006

Alliance North Down Councillor, Anne Wilson

The Government must introduce a levy on plastic bags, similar to the measure in place in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.

Government must use such basic measures to encourage people to re-use plastic bags in order to help the environment.

There are two main ways which a plastic bag levy would have a positive effect. Firstly, it would reduce unsightly plastic bag littering and secondly, fewer chemicals would be released into the environment if less plastic bags were being created.

After the levy was introduced in the Republic of Ireland, it cut plastic bag usage by 90 per cent and also helped provide over £93 million for environmental projects.

These statistics show that the introduction of such legislation in Northern Ireland would have a massively positive impact on the environment.

Councillor Anne Wilson, North Down Alliance