Shoppers at some Northern Ireland supermarkets will see the cost of a plastic bag rise considerably as the carrier bag levy goes up.
The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is increasing the environmental levy from April 1. It means retailers must now pay DAERA 25p for every bag they sell following the rise instead of 5p.
While some shops and supermarkets have said a plastic or paper bag will be the same as the new 25p levy, others plan to increase it further.
Read more: Plastic bag levy rise in Northern Ireland prompts plea to reuse bags
We asked the major supermarket brands operating in Northern Ireland what they plan to charge customers for a bag for life from Friday. This is what they said:
Asda: The supermarket told us "from Friday the cost of our bags for life will increase from 20p to 45p to reflect the 25p DEARA levy".
Iceland: No response before publication.
Lidl: The budget supermarket chain told us "from 1st April there will be an increase in the carrier bag levy in Northern Ireland from 5p to 25p. DAERA are responsible for the increase. The price of 25p is for all shoppers and will not increase from this."
Marks & Spencer: The retailer has told us it plans to charge 35p for its bags from Friday.
Sainsbury's : The supermarket said "we are reviewing our pricing and will keep customers updated". They did not provide an answer to our question about whether they intend to charge more than the levy for a bag for life.
SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO: The brands said their shops will be charging 25p for carrier bags in Northern Ireland following the levy rise.
SuperValu (Musgrave): No response before publication
Tesco: They said they "will comply with the new rules" adding that "our bags will be 25p".
Money earned through the carrier bag levy goes on to fund environmental projects across Northern Ireland. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful welcomed the increase in cost.
Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts says that while the group 'agrees with the objective to reduce the level of plastic in circulation' and 'litter our streets' they feel 25p is too expensive.
“Retail NI argued for the 5p charge to be increased to a more realistic figure of 10p in line with what is being proposed in England and Scotland," he said.
"We believe this increase to 25p will disproportionally impact on working families who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. However, we will work with DAERA on its implementation and urge them to keep this policy under review.
"As is the case in Wales, we would now like to see responsibility given to our members to allow them to decide on what local environmental projects the proceeds of the levy, that they administer, is spent on.
"Successive Environment and DAERA Ministers have never consulted local retailers on how the proceeds of the levy is spent. We want to empower our members to make the decisions themselves on how best to spend the levy which they collect."
The levy applies to carrier bags of all materials - not just plastic bags - and is charged when:
- you buy goods like groceries or clothing
- goods are delivered or collected from premises (click and collect), where carrier bags are used.
Retailers set the price of their bags which means that prices may vary. However, only the proceeds of the levy are paid to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
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