Consumer champion DECO has highlighted the obvious ruse of the government’s new plastic bag tax, saying that the revenue raised will not be spent on green issues at all, and that the tax simply is another burden on consumers.
Deco asks the government to scrap the 10-cents-a-bag tax as it is "unfair and disproportionate" and is "burdening consumers with yet another tax."
The association disagrees with the proposed tax as, "rather than discouraging the use of plastic bags gradually, this tax will only serve as a new source of revenue for the state, with no real benefits to the consumer."
Deco says the government could promote the reuse of bags by defining criteria for their strength and durability; this is not in the green tax proposal, and anway, "any measures of this kind should be applied progressively, with a starting price of between two and three cents and then an annual increase.”
There should be a gradual reduction in the use of plastic bags over a period of four years and a better idea to promote reuse is to limit the number of check-outs that sell them, claims Deco.
Any tax imposition or bag reuse initiative should be accompanied by information campaigns to enlighten consumers about the environmental and economic benefits of reuse.
The bag tax already has been included in the so called ‘green tax reforms’ that already have been approved by the Government for the 2015 State Budget.
It is not clear if the objective is to reduce the use of plastic bags, or to raise money from their taxation.
Certainly the 10 cents charge will trigger a huge reduction in the number of bags used and should promote a culture of reuse. This may leave the government short of its tax raising target and money will have to be raised elsewhere to fill the gap.
It is not yet clear whether those supermarkets that already charge for plastic bags will be adding the tax to the existing price of a bag.
