The minimum price of a single use carrier bag is set to increase from 5p to 10p.
The Scottish Parliament will be asked to approve the increase from the 1st April 2021. The carrier bag charge was first introduced in Scotland in October 2014.
Prior to the charge, 800 million single use carrier bags were issued annually in Scotland.
By 2015 this fell by 80% with the Marine Conservation Society noting in 2016 that the number of plastic carrier bags being found on Scotland’s beaches dropped by 40% two years in a row with a further drop of 42% recorded between 2018 and 2019.
Additional measures to reduce single use plastic consumption include the banning of the sale of plastic stemmed cotton buds, with further steps to ban a number of single use items recently being consulted on.
For more information visit the Scottish Government website