Criticism of the tax’s removal includes concerns from Sweden’s own environmental protection agency, which argued that the levy remains essential for cementing new habits.
I don’t know what it’s like in Sweden, but at least anecdotally here in the UK I really appreciate not seeing discarded plastic bags floating about in the wind nearly so often. People were up in arms about it when it came in, but it seems like it worked. Could’ve done without working at Subway at the time, though. Pricks ordering a shitty sandwich with every sauce and extra on it and then getting pissed at me because a plastic bag to go around the already-wrapped sandwich that they are going to immediately unwrap and eat increases the cost by 1% were a dishearteningly common occurrence.
It’s actually staggering how effective a measly 5p minimum charge for bags was. I used to see carrier bags discarded all over the place, now I never do
While plastic bags isn’t the main culprit of plastic waste, I enjoyed seeing less plastic in the environment too.
Here in Melbourne Australia, plastic bags are illegal. Same with plastic cutlery, plastic cups, straws etc, and Ive not heard any significant whinging.
Any country that hasn’t done it yet needs an authoritarian left wing government to storm in and force their gormless populace to grow up and take responsibility.
This story is so bonkers in Sweden. The Liberal party wanted this law. They have since then, together with the rest of the right tried to blame it on the greens. And when they joind the government now, in support by the far right, they basically said they can finally abolish this tax. They are such a joke party.
Weaselly conservatives that try to blame their own (useful!) policy decisions on the Greens appear to be everywhere in Europe right now.
Every neoliberal shitbag ever
