From the beginning of November 2024 to the end of the same month last year, the Eco-Fund generated a total of 1.215.610 euros in revenue from fees paid by retailers for bags thicker than 50 microns. Bags are being used 50 percent less than before, while there are 70 percent fewer of them in landfills.
This was officially stated to "Vijesti" by the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development.
The sale of plastic bags was partially banned at the end of October 2024, through the Waste Management Law, since when citizens can no longer buy lightweight bags with wall thicknesses of 15 to 50 microns in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Bags thinner than 15 microns are free and are most often used in the fruit section of supermarkets, while those thicker than 50 microns are purchased at the checkout.
Since then, the sale of single-use plastics has also been banned, including cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws and expanded polystyrene food containers. At that time, a government decree was passed, which introduced a three-cent fee that sellers pay to the state for thicker bags, while in December last year it was increased to five cents.
The Ministry emphasized that due to this fee, the prices of bags in supermarkets will be higher, but that the measures are having an effect.
"The Eco-Fund, based on fees for plastic bags thicker than 50 microns, generated a total of 1.215.610 euros in revenue from November last year to November 31, 2025. Statistics show that the use of bags has decreased by 50 percent, and their presence in landfills by as much as 70 percent. The increase in the fee from three to five cents is justified by the significant decline in the use of plastic bags and the need for additional incentives to completely switch to ecological alternatives. The aforementioned increase will certainly result in an increase in the price of plastic bags in retail chains, but we note that this cost is not mandatory for consumers or citizens; on the contrary, they will be more motivated to use cloth bags instead of plastic bags, which is the goal of the adoption of this Regulation," said the Ministry of Ecology.
They pointed out that the Market Inspection has been monitoring compliance with the Waste Management Law since October 20, 2024, and that they have so far conducted 1.043 inspections and identified 33 irregularities. They emphasized that nine misdemeanor orders have been issued so far, through which they have issued fines worth 9.000 euros, namely 4.000 euros to the company, 4.000 euros to the responsible person in the company and a thousand euros in fines for the entrepreneur, while one request has also been submitted to initiate misdemeanor proceedings.
They added that in 22 cases, the inspection indicated that lightweight plastic bags up to 15 microns thick can only be used in the place for packaging goods, while in one case it indicated plastic straws.
"Due to the identified irregularities related to the placing on the market of single-use plastic products, which are prohibited by law, ten decisions were issued to prohibit the sale of goods with a total value of 12.154 euros for 6.383 packages (5.658 packages of cotton buds, 184 packages of plastic straws and 541 packages of disposable cutlery). Considering that in the current year, on this basis, one misdemeanor order was issued in the amount of 1.000 euros and one request was submitted to initiate misdemeanor proceedings, we can conclude that economic entities have largely harmonized their operations with the provisions of this Law," the Ministry of Ecology said.
The Ministry called on citizens to notify the Market Inspection Directorate if they notice any non-compliance with this law, but that supervision will certainly continue.
Fines for non-compliance with the rules regarding the thickness of plastic bags range from 20.000 to 1.000 euros for companies, while firms that fail to comply with the measures for single-use plastics can be fined from 40.000 to 500 euros. Fines for citizens are identical in both cases, namely from 2.000 to 6.000 euros, while entrepreneurs will have to pay from XNUMX to XNUMX euros for the same violation.
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