DUBLIN - Ireland was the first nation to tax plastic bags as a way to stop people from littering the countryside with them. Now the Emerald Isle will double its levy to a punitive 59 cents per bag.
The 7-year-old policy has already generated more than $175 million.
It also has sharply reduced Irish reliance on throwaway bags - once running at 1.2 billion per year.
The Department of the Environment announced yesterday that the charge will be doubled to ensure a “sufficient deterrent’’ to shoppers who arrive at checkout counters with no shopping bags of their own.
