Bulgaria’s Environment Ministry has boasted about a substantial reduction in the use of single-use thin plastic bags over the past two years.

The conclusion of the Energy Ministry is based on receipts from fees on plastic bags thinner than 25 microns and smaller than 390/490 mm, according to reports of Sega daily.

The fee was introduced in October 2012 in a bid to stop the production and consumption of the most polluting plastic bags, namely ones of up to 25 microns in width.

Revenues from plastic bag fees dropped by over 60% in 2013-2014, according to the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities.

According to the Environment Ministry, the downward trend is due to appropriate regulation on the market, a change in consumer attitudes and a shift towards multi-use bags.

On April 28, the European Parliament voted in favor of curbing the use of thin plastic bags in the EU.

Under the new rules, EU countries will be required to reduce the use of the commonest and most polluting plastic bags drastically.

Under the newly adopted binding reduction targets, EU member states will be able to choose between taking measures to reduce annual average consumption of plastic bags to 90 lightweight bags per citizen by the end of 2019 and 40 by the end of 2025 or ensuring that by the end of 2018, no more light plastic bags are handed over free of charge to shoppers.