East Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs has welcomed a revenue of £1.3 million raised since the introduction of a carrier bag levy last April.
Mr Beggs, a former member of the Environment Committee, at Stormont, said: “It is welcome news. I am led to believe that the use of single carrier bags has decreased by 72 per cent, which means that there are a staggering 215 million less bags in circulation.
“The charge on carrier bags, which is five pence per single use bag, goes towards the NGO Challenge Fund. This fund goes back into the community and funds environmental projects.”
Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) administers the NGO Challenge Fund on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). Applications from eligible groups are invited to the NGO Challenge Fund and must be submitted to challengefund@nienvironmentlink.org by noon on Friday, October 3. Successful projects will be announced in late October/early November.
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