PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS
Israel introduces plastic bag charge / New law to go into effect on 1 January 2017 / Critics say 2-cent levy is too low
 First introduced in 2014, the bill that was eventually passed was much watered down (Photo: Pablonilo/Fotolia) |
Following a vote in the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, large supermarket chains in the country will start charging NIS 0.10 (EUR 0.02) for plastic bags from 1 January 2017 onwards. The money will go to a cleaning fund run by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (www.sviva.gov.il), which will use it to fund an air pollution reduction project and for efforts to explain the new law.
The legislation also forbids the distribution of disposable bags with a thickness of less than 20 microns at leading supermarkets, while the handing out of thin bags without handles, used to package fruit and vegetables, will remain free of charge. Small outlets will be exempt from the ordinance. However, the minister of Environmental Protection has the right to extend the law to all businesses and also to raise the bag fee.
The law has been heavily criticised in Israel, with opponents pointing out that the small amount of the fee will not change consumer behaviour. In its original form, the bill – which was first proposed in 2014 – had called for an NIS 0.60 (EUR 0.14) charge, but pressure from various parties resulted in the much lower levy. Another earlier version had proposed a fee of NIS 0.30 (EUR 0.07) and the provision of a reusable bag, in an effort to educate Israeli shoppers to refuse single-use plastic carriers. That proposal also failed.
Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates that the average Israeli consumes 275 plastic bags a year, bringing the country’s total annual consumption to 2.2 bn bags. Retailers currently spend some NIS 88m (about EUR 20.4m) on carrier bags each year – a price that is passed on to the consumer in one form or another.
The European Union in 2015 introduced legislation that requires its member states to reduce per capita lightweight plastic bag consumption to 90 per inhabitant by the end of 2019 and to 40 per inhabitant by the end of 2025 (see Plasteurope.com of 04.05.2015). A number of European countries have introduced charges for plastic bags handed out at the counter, with the most recent one being The Netherlands, which on 1 January this year recommended a EUR 0.25 fee (see Plasteurope.com of 11.03.2016). In Germany, too, a voluntary fee on plastic carrier bags was decided upon (see Plasteurope.com of 09.03.2016), although its implementation has meanwhile been delayed to 1 July.
The legislation also forbids the distribution of disposable bags with a thickness of less than 20 microns at leading supermarkets, while the handing out of thin bags without handles, used to package fruit and vegetables, will remain free of charge. Small outlets will be exempt from the ordinance. However, the minister of Environmental Protection has the right to extend the law to all businesses and also to raise the bag fee.
The law has been heavily criticised in Israel, with opponents pointing out that the small amount of the fee will not change consumer behaviour. In its original form, the bill – which was first proposed in 2014 – had called for an NIS 0.60 (EUR 0.14) charge, but pressure from various parties resulted in the much lower levy. Another earlier version had proposed a fee of NIS 0.30 (EUR 0.07) and the provision of a reusable bag, in an effort to educate Israeli shoppers to refuse single-use plastic carriers. That proposal also failed.
Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates that the average Israeli consumes 275 plastic bags a year, bringing the country’s total annual consumption to 2.2 bn bags. Retailers currently spend some NIS 88m (about EUR 20.4m) on carrier bags each year – a price that is passed on to the consumer in one form or another.
The European Union in 2015 introduced legislation that requires its member states to reduce per capita lightweight plastic bag consumption to 90 per inhabitant by the end of 2019 and to 40 per inhabitant by the end of 2025 (see Plasteurope.com of 04.05.2015). A number of European countries have introduced charges for plastic bags handed out at the counter, with the most recent one being The Netherlands, which on 1 January this year recommended a EUR 0.25 fee (see Plasteurope.com of 11.03.2016). In Germany, too, a voluntary fee on plastic carrier bags was decided upon (see Plasteurope.com of 09.03.2016), although its implementation has meanwhile been delayed to 1 July.
23.05.2016 Plasteurope.com [234077-0]
Published on 23.05.2016