Environment group call for paper bag levy

Calls are being made for the Government to introduce a levy on paper bags.

Friends of the Irish Environment claims recent studies show paper bags have a greater adverse impact on the environment than plastic bags.

A levy of 22 cent currently applies to plastic bags.

Director of Friends of the Irish Environment, Tony Lowes, said we should follow in the footsteps of other cities who have already brought in a paper bag tax.

"Paper takes an awful lot of energy and an awful lot of water to make - it's also seven or eight times heavier per bag, so the transport costs are very much greater," said/

"So we just want the minister to follow the world's best practice now, which is being done in cities like Washington DC, California, and New York - where when they put the levy on the plastic bags, they put it on the paper as well."