Case Study: Plastax in Ireland
- "It works." - The Australian (Australia's national daily newspaper)
- "...surprisingly popular" - Plastic News
- "I think it's a cracking good idea." - UK Environment Minister, Michael Meacher
-- Designed to rein in their rampant consumption of 1.2 billion plastic shopping bags per year, the tax resulted in a 90% drop in consumption, and approximately 1 billion fewer bags consumed annually.
-- To complete the win-win scenario, approximately $9.6 million was raised from the tax in the first year, which is earmarked for a green fund established to benefit the environment.
-- Several other countries and cities around the world are now considering implementing a similar tax, including UK, Australia and New York City.
How does it work?
-- First of all, the purpose is to change consumer behavior, not to generate revenue, moving habits from mindless consumption, to reducing and reusing.
-- In a nutshell, it's a simple market-based solution in the form of a consumption tax. Individuals pay a tax of $.15 per plastic bag consumed at check out.
-- Retailers save money since they only have to stock a smaller quantity of bags (in Ireland, on average they were spending $50 million a year on single-use plastic bags before the tax). Many retailers are also now benefiting from selling reusable bags.
-- Administration is straightforward and retailers keep simple records on purchasing and receipts, while the government monitors retailer compliance and collects revenue.
What is exempt?
-- In Ireland, exemptions from the tax include heavier weight reusable plastic bags; bags used for meat, fish, or poultry; bags for unpackaged produce, ice, or other foods without packaging.
What are the results?
-- Consumption has dropped approximately 90%, from 1.2 billion to 230 million per year.
-- Litter has been dramatically reduced.
-- Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to reduced production of bags.
-- Reusable shopping bags, rather than paper, are taking the place of plastic disposables.
-- Weaker plastic bag companies went out of business, while others have benefited by seizing the opportunity to make reusable shopping bags.
Summary
-- The PlasTax is a major success. Consumers have widely adopted using reusable shopping bags and retailers no longer incur the costs associated with giving away free bags.
