State Budget: Very light plastic bags to carry 4 cent price tag

As opposition parties criticise PS Socialists’ proposed State Budget for its lack of ambition, the small print is dribbling into the media – like the introduction of a 4 cent levy on light and very light plastic bags (the kind generally available at greengrocers/ fruit & veg and bread counters at supermarkets).The levy is to cover the producers and/ or importers of lightweight plastics, says Lusa, and the “contribution” is “payable, in national territory, at the time they are released for consumption”. In other words, consumers will be paying this levy, unless they take their own bags along to the shops with them.