In Montenegro, 100 plastic bags were previously used per capita, and now 65 are used, which shows that the measures of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development (MERS) are already yielding the first results, announced the relevant Minister Damjan Ćulafić.
He spoke today at the Second Session of the Green Parliamentary Group of the Parliament of Montenegro on the topic "Effects of the implementation of the legislative framework on the use of plastic bags and their impact on the environment", which is one of the activities of the "Plastic Trail" project co-financed by the Environmental Protection Fund.
Ćulafić, as announced by MERS, said that this topic is important in a much broader context.
"I believe that 2026 will be very demanding in this area, because it is necessary to pass a truly large number of legal and by-laws, adopt a large number of strategies, and continue investing in infrastructure projects, without which any strategic or legislative framework does not make much sense unless what we prescribe is projected into the real world," said Ćulafić.
He stressed that he was certain that Montenegro would fulfill its obligations within the deadlines set by Brussels, and thanked the Montenegrin Parliament for the support it had provided so far.
Ćulafić recalled that at the end of 2024, the Ministry imposed a ban on the use of plastic bags between 15 and 50 microns thick, and that a fee was introduced for bags thicker than 50 microns.
At that time, as he said, the fee was 0,03 euros, and the regulations obliged the Market Inspection to monitor compliance with this regulation.
"According to their data, they carried out around 1.040 inspection controls, issued nine misdemeanor warrants, filed one request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings, indicated to 22 entities that lightweight plastic bags with a wall thickness of up to 15 microns can be used exclusively in the place of packaging goods, and only one indication of a ban on the use of plastic straws," Ćulafić stated.
According to him, they received comparative data that previously 100 plastic bags were used per capita in Montenegro, and that now 65 are used, which is an indicator that results are still being achieved.
Ćulafić said that it is very important to focus on monitoring, or rather inspection, of all the measures that need to be implemented.
"The Environmental Inspection, which operates within MERS, carried out 2.311 inspections last year alone, even though they only have eight environmental inspectors, they filed 53 criminal reports and 86 requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings," Ćulafić pointed out.
He said that the Ministry is doing its part of the job conscientiously, and that they have increased the fee for using bags from three to five cents.
"One of our ideas is to completely ban the use of plastic bags up to 50 microns, so that the tax for a purchased plastic bag is significantly higher," Ćulafić pointed out.
He assessed that there is a huge space for cooperation with the population and recalled that the purpose of the fees collected by the Eco-Fund is to spend that money on campaigns that will raise the level of awareness of citizens.
"With the Delegation of the European Union, we are participating in a large joint campaign "Take care, let it take care of you", and we are already in the process of designing new campaigns," Ćulafić pointed out.
Bonus video:
