Chinese School - Hooray for plastic bag tax

Opinion / Liang Hongfu

Hooray for plastic bag tax

By Hong Liang (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-05 07:26

The Hong Kong government is finally taking the initiative to dispel the
curse of plastic bags with the magic wand of a 50 Hong Kong cent levy on
each offensive item.

Even those of us who are passive environmentalists should applaud this
move because plastic bags, in many different sizes and colors, have
become such a huge nuisance. Jettisoned plastic bags are everywhere -
littering the streets, floating on the harbor, clogging the drains and
flying in the air on a windy day.

Oh yes, Hong Kong people are addicted to the use of plastic bags.
Official estimates show that each Hong Kong person uses and disposes of
about three plastic bags every day. That adds up to more than 350,000
tons of these abominable and non-biodegradable pollutants a year.

It makes us wonder if a mere 50 cent levy is sufficient to wean our
fellow citizens from the plastic bag habit. Of course, the small
cooked-food stores are not going to put a $1 portion of fried noodles in
a plastic bag that costs more than 50 cents with the government levy. But
a customer buying hundreds of dollars of produce at a supermarket
probably won't mind a small surcharge on plastic bags.

In some other countries and regions, the levy on plastic bags is set at a
much higher level. It is reported that the high levy in Ireland,
equivalent to HK$1.5, has helped reduce the use of plastic bags by as
much as 90 percent. Considering Hong Kong people's much stronger
addiction to plastic bags, it would make sense for the government to
propose an even higher levy than the Irish.

While we're on the topic, we would also suggest that the government
consider levies on the use of Styrofoam lunch boxes and wrappers, and
various disposable plastic utensils. They are a common eyesore in our
otherwise idyllic parks and pristine beaches.

These levies can bring in a sizable increase in recurrent public revenue
when the government is exploring ways to broaden Hong Kong's narrow tax
base.

According to the government's conservative estimates, Hong Kong people
use a total of more than 18 million plastic bags a day. Multiply that by
50 cents, the proposed levy, and you get HK$9 million of daily revenue.
That works out to be more than HK$3 billion a year, which is certainly no
small change. Even if the usage is cut by half because of the levy, there
should still be more than HK$1 billion in additional revenue.

There is no published data on the use of Styrofoam boxes and plastic
wrappers. But the daily total should number in the millions judging by
their widespread use in supermarkets, fast-food restaurants and take-out
places.

In fact, environmental taxes were among the list of proposals to help
broaden Hong Kong's tax base. It is widely expected that such levies
aimed at improving our environment by making the polluters pay will be
more readily accepted by the public than other forms of consumption tax.

The list of products judged to be harmful to the environment, and
therefore subject to levy, can be expanded from time to time. Such a list
could potentially include such products as personal computers and
batteries.

Let's start with the most obvious one, the plastic bags.

E-mail: jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/05/2007 page10)

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