Not banned...
by
quandrum
·
· Score: 5, Informative
if anyone had RTFA, they are banning bags of less then 30 *MICRONS* thickness. (The current bags are 17) Of course the consumer gets the to pay the cost of that extra.01 gram of plastic
Re:Ireland Charges for plastic bags
by
Spudley
·
· Score: 2, Informative
No, it is (as the original poster said) one of the best decisions that the Irish government has ever made.
It is a simple, straightforeward tax aimed at preventing litter. And (now pay attention - this is the important bit...) IT WORKS.
People have started reusing plastic bags. The don't thow them away, or drop them on the street. They reuse them.
In the South African case, the country has a major problem in some areas of litter from cheap plastic bags. The bags are made as thin as possible, to make them as cheap as possible, and they are pretty much impossible to use more than once - they just rip apart too easily, and they end up making a lot of litter.
So the SA govt has now outlawed these untra thin bags. You are now required to use thicker bags. Thicker bags are more likely to be reused. They also do not catch the wind so easily, so they are less likely to end up hanging from trees even if they are dropped as litter.
The Irish example would not have worked in SA, because the country is far too large and rural to be able to police properly as the Irish do. Also, the combination of poverty and corruption in SA would have resulted in widescale flouting of an Irish-style bag tax.
Slashdot Mirror
if anyone had RTFA, they are banning bags of less then 30 *MICRONS* thickness. (The current bags are 17) Of course the consumer gets the to pay the cost of that extra .01 gram of plastic
No, it is (as the original poster said) one of the best decisions that the Irish government has ever made.
It is a simple, straightforeward tax aimed at preventing litter. And (now pay attention - this is the important bit...) IT WORKS.
People have started reusing plastic bags. The don't thow them away, or drop them on the street. They reuse them.
In the South African case, the country has a major problem in some areas of litter from cheap plastic bags. The bags are made as thin as possible, to make them as cheap as possible, and they are pretty much impossible to use more than once - they just rip apart too easily, and they end up making a lot of litter.
So the SA govt has now outlawed these untra thin bags. You are now required to use thicker bags. Thicker bags are more likely to be reused. They also do not catch the wind so easily, so they are less likely to end up hanging from trees even if they are dropped as litter.
The Irish example would not have worked in SA, because the country is far too large and rural to be able to police properly as the Irish do. Also, the combination of poverty and corruption in SA would have resulted in widescale flouting of an Irish-style bag tax.
(Spudley Strikes Again!)