Malta uses 52m plastic bags annually

Environment Minister George Pullicino said yesterday that 52 million plastic bags were used in Malta each year.

"Unless we kill the use of plastic bags, they will kill us" he said when speaking in parliament yesterday.

The introduction of the eco-tax on plastic, he said, was not aimed at raising revenue, but to discourage the use of plastic which was not degradable or biodegradable, he said. Had the eco-tax been lower, the cost would have been absorbed and the use of the bags would have continued.

Mr Pullicino said plastic bags which ended up in waste dumps let off harmful dioxin emissions which could end in the food chain. And such plastic could last for more than 1,000 years.

There were several alternatives to plastic bags which were already easily available. He thanked shops and supermarkets which had started giving their consumers cloth bags years ago and others which handed out degradable, rather than normal plastic bags.

The minister pointed out that when a similar measure was introduced in Ireland, the volume of plastic bags used after 12 months was down by 90 per cent.

He stressed that the eco-tax would not apply for industry or farming when the use of such plastic was a necessity.