Podgorica, (MINA) – The government has passed a decree imposing a five cents per bag fee on sellers of plastic bags with a thickness of over 50 microns, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development (MERS) announced.

MERS stated that the Regulation on the compensation paid by the sellers of light plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness of more than 50 microns was adopted at the proposal of Minister Damjan Culafic.

Culafic recalled that, according to the Law on Waste Management, the ban on the use of plastic bags with a thickness between 15 and 50 microns entered into force on October 20 last year.

“That measure immediately produced the very encouraging results. We recorded as much as 72 percent fewer plastic bags in landfills, sales in retail chains were reduced by half, which clearly indicates that the measures we are implementing are effective”, said Culafic.

He noted that for plastic bags over 50 microns sellers have paid a fee of three cents until now, and the funds collected by the Environmental Protection Agency have been transferred to the Environmental Protection Fund.

According to Culafic, the adoption of the new Regulation continues a clear and consistent policy of reducing plastic bags use, with the aim of protecting the environment.