People are hoarding plastic bags ahead of the hefty new tax they will be subjected to come January 1.

"Since Tuesday shoppers have been taking loads of bags, probably to keep them to use after January," Doris Bonett, a director of Smart Supermarket, said.

On Monday, the government announced a €0.15 tax on every plastic bag, including degradable or biodegradable ones.

The new regime follows on the steps of a similar eco-tax introduced in 2005 and which saw a €0.02 levy on degradable plastic bags and €0.14 on normal plastic bags. It was initially charged per kilo but changed to a fixed charge per item just days after it came into force.

The change had been resisted staunchly by shoppers who don't seem to be able to get used to the idea of having to do away with it.

Even supermarkets are still trying to come to terms with the new tax and how it will affect their operation.

Chris Gauci, from Wembley Stores, said the new levy was quite high, especially for customers who just bought a couple of items.

"Some of our shoppers are people who happen to be in Valletta and decide to pop in for a few items. Quite a few of them will not have their carrier bags with them. We might be faced with a situation where a person buys something that costs €0.50 and has to pay an extra €0.15," he said.

The possibility that some supermarkets might decide to absorb the cost themselves is worrying Ms Bonett. She pointed out that when the eco-contribution was introduced in 2005, Smart Supermarket started charging consumers, much to their dismay.

"We were penalised for our decision, with many customers saying they would go to a store that was not charging for plastic bags. It is imperative that the government makes sure that everyone has to pass the cost to consumers," she said.

But a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said shops will be obliged to pass on this tax to their consumers and have to include each bag in their receipt.

Park Towers Supermarket manager Daniela Pantalleresco thinks people will be more careful and bring their own bags when going shopping. She said that although the tax introduced in 2005 was only of €0.02, the supermarket had seen an increase in people bringing their own bags. "This time it is higher, so we are expecting more people to use cloth bags or boxes to carry their shopping."

Asked why degradable bags were also being taxed, the spokesman said that although they might not be as harmful as other plastic bags, they still impact the environment. The idea, he insisted, is to eliminate plastic altogether.

While biodegradable plastic breaks down naturally just like food, most plastic bags in Malta are degradable, meaning they can also be broken down through a slow process that requires chemicals.

"Our aim is not to collect the 15c on every plastic bag but to drastically reduce their use," he said.

Environmentalist Marco Cremona said that while it is always best to not use plastic bags at all, the indiscriminate introduction did not provide an environmentally-friendly solution.

"Unless the waste collection system is changed, there will still be a demand for plastic bags as rubbish bags. A differentiated eco contribution would have ensured that these bags would be biodegradable."

The problem with degradable plastic bags is that the process to make them requires the burning of fossil fuels. Cloth bags can be reused for longer and paper bags are easily biodegradable so the best thing to do is phase out plastic bags altogether.