The single-use plastic tax recently passed in the Bundestag could make single-use plastic products more expensive. There are some alternatives for consumers to reduce their plastic consumption.
Single-use plastic tax approved by Bundestag
At the beginning of February, the Bundestag approved the so-called single-use plastic tax with the votes of the traffic light parties SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and FDP. The law implements the “Directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment” issued by the EU as part of its Circular Economy Action Plan and its Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy. The special tax for single-use plastic products enacted in the law is intended to help free municipalities and communities from plastic waste and relieve the financial burden. The law requires manufacturers of products made from single-use plastic to pay into a government fund, thereby contributing to the costs of cleaning up plastic products. According to the editorial network Germany, it is possible that manufacturers pass the additional costs on to consumers through prices, which would make the products more expensive. The higher manufacturer costs could also reduce the range of single-use plastic products.
There are alternatives for consumers
According to the Bavarian Consumer Center, every citizen in Germany produces around 38.5 kilograms of plastic waste per year. Plastic is particularly harmful to the environment because it does not decompose and therefore remains in the environment for a very long time. According to the Bavarian Consumer Center, for example, a plastic bag takes around 20 years to break down into small plastic particles, which then continue to pollute the environment and the food cycle in the form of microplastics.
There are numerous alternatives to single-use plastic products that consumers can switch to. For example, instead of using disposable bottles, consumers can increasingly use reusable and glass bottles, which can be used significantly more often. You can also avoid the popular plastic cutlery by using steel cutlery instead. Instead of cotton swabs, you can use washcloths to clean your ears. Fruit and vegetables can also be bought unpackaged in order to reduce the use of plastic. By avoiding finished products, plastic consumption can also be reduced. When shopping, consumers should also take their own shopping bags with them so that they don’t always have to buy new ones. However, paper should not necessarily be used as a replacement for plastic products, as it promotes deforestation if recycled material is not used.
Editorial office finanzen.net