It is expected that the sale of thin plastic carrying bags at the points of sale of the products will be permanently prohibited. This action is expected to minimize their use to a large extent.
According to a publication by Phileleftheros, for the last four years the plastic bag has been charged at the price of € 0,05 plus VAT and in this way the use of the plastic bag at the points of sale has been reduced to about 80%.
This issue was discussed in the parliamentary Committee on the Environment during the consideration of a draft amendment to the regulations submitted by the Department of the Environment.
At the same time, the plastic bag manufacturing industries have asked for time credit in the implementation of the legislation, claiming that jobs will be lost.
In addition, they disagree with this legislation due to the expected reduction in turnover and profits.
According to the Department of Environment, there will be effects on the producers of plastic carrying bags, both negative in terms of reducing the production of this product and positive in terms of increasing production for companies that produce alternatives, such as reusable carrying bags.
In the same way, there will be an impact on jobs in the production of plastic transport bags, as well as positive ones in the production of more environmentally friendly transport methods, such as reusable transport bags.
Consumers are expected to have low compliance costs, as they will have to buy and always have a reusable carrying case with them.
The adoption of a stricter measure that provides for the prohibition of the use of the thin plastic carrying bag at the points of sale, is a one-way street for the Republic of Cyprus since since July 2018 when the legislation for bag charging was implemented until today, no mechanism has been found. to collect the charge amount from the plastic bags, and therefore the cost charged to the consumer remained as a cost to the retailers.
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