The Commons Blog: Taxing Grocery Bags

Apparently San Francisco are considering doing an Eire; taxking plastic bgs. Now while the tax in Eire has done wonders for the countryside apparently no longer strewn with the things, it is worth thinking about the longer term and bigger picture. Helpful thoughts follow:

"The proposed grocery-bag tax singles out a select portion of the waste stream for special treatment, and may even have perverse environmental effects insofar as it discourages bulk shopping. A true user fee would not target consumer buying habits. Rather, it would require consumers to pay for disposing of the waste they actually generate. Allowing competition in waste management services would further promote more environmentally sound waste management insofar as it would give waste management companies to push recycling where it makes economic sense. In sum, moving toward greater market provision of waste disposal services would both create greater incentives for waste reduction and encourage innovation in waste management strategies. Such approaches are much more 'sensible' than taxing grocery bags."



The Commons Blog: Taxing Grocery Bags: