Plastic bag charges take effect on Sunday

Shoppers will be charged five cents per plastic bag as of Sunday July 1, the Environmental Commissioner Ioanna Panayiotou reminded the public said on Saturday.

Panyiotou noted that the measure was being enacted as a part of the European Union framework, which seeks to reduce the use of plastic bags. The thin plastic bags used to hold fruit, meat, or vegetables, will not be charged, the commissioner said.

The executive secretary of the Pancyprian Union of Supermarkets, Andreas Hadjadamou said that supermarkets were ready for the measure.

He added that supermarkets have already stocked up on their stores of reusable bags that customers will be able to buy at the till.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.