The eco-tax on plastic bags is being raised to 0.15c to discourage their use, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said in Parliament this evening.

He said that the current level of the eco-contribution on the bags had not been enough and 40 million bags were still being used per year.

It would now be obligatory for shops to register such bags in the fiscal receipt.

Mr Fenech said that it was not the money that the government wanted but it wanted the use of these bags to be discontinued.

The government will also introduce a 1c tax per 80grams of paper used for literature distributed with newspapers, handed out for free or delivered door to door when more than half of the content consists of adverts.

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