Tax on plastic usage?

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification

Forums › Politics › Tax on plastic usage?

1 | 2

Eitsop

584 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 153

ID Verified

#2227660 29-Apr-2019 22:40

freitasm: Why milk bottles? did you think of the unintended consequences? The liquid is practically essential for kids, it's a breakfast item, it is an important source of calcium (especially for women) and so on. Why not instead tax water bottles, or soda drinks instead, which are non-essentials?

Milk bottles are the first example.. but yes all plastic water bottles, water, soda, cleaning powder bottles

We should give industry 2 years, with $1 tax on every bottle.

We should encourage industry to come up with more sustainable containers eg tetrapak eg https://www.tetrapak.com/packaging/tetra-rex

Or back to glass milk bottles.. and the milkman?

MurrayM

2503 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 743

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2227724 30-Apr-2019 08:47

tdgeek:

Bluntj:

Lets tax everything!!

Wait ...we do. 15% GST.

It used to be 12.5! :-)

It used to be 10%! :-)

Journeyman

1207 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1243

#2227986 30-Apr-2019 14:43

I'm confused. Are recyclable bottles bad now? And are Tetrapaks really any better? I remain unconvinced.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80682 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41136

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#2227991 30-Apr-2019 14:50

Journeyman:

I'm confused. Are recyclable bottles bad now? And are Tetrapaks really any better? I remain unconvinced.

Exactly. I think the OP wants to punish (and prevent people easy access to) than actually solve a problem here.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
19086 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 16356

Lifetime subscriber

#2228008 30-Apr-2019 15:14

In Europe there are deposits on most reusable containers, whatever they are made of. I wish we had that here. It is a scandal that the authorities ever let business interests talk them into abandoning it (if indeed that is what happened; it is my impression but I don't know for certain).

I think there are better alternatives to most plastic containers, but a lot of the downside would be removed if they are at least reusable. Everything that can be reused should have a substantial deposit on it and should be returnable at point of purchase. Tell the supermarkets and other retailers to stop whinging and learn to live with it. They manage to in other countries. Anything that can't be reused but can be recycled should be. Everything else should be banned. We have a choice. We can get serious about this or we can keep dancing around it until everything collapses under the weight of our waste products.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Journeyman

1207 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1243

#2228119 30-Apr-2019 18:27

attewell:

We should give industry 2 years, with $1 tax on every bottle.

So a budget brand of 1L milk is $2.32 at Countdown and New World. You throw a dollar onto that and you've raised the price by 43% !

Geekzone support

Support Geekzone with one-off or recurring donations Donate via PressPatron.

Eitsop

584 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 153

ID Verified

#2228158 30-Apr-2019 19:47

Journeyman: So a budget brand of 1L milk is $2.32 at Countdown and New World. You throw a dollar onto that and you've raised the price by 43% !

Spot on.. but they could also sell a Tetrapak 1L of milk for $2.32. So the consumer has the choice of paying $3.32 for a plastic bottle of milk or $2.32 for tetrapak?.

Another example.. they pay $4.99 for plastic 2L of ice cream now, they may pay $5.99 in plastic.
Or they could pay $4.99 for 2L in cardboard box

So this allows for minimal increase for the lowest earners.
But also make consumers be more considerate about their purchase.. and if they want to buy a plastic bottle/container.. they are also paying for someone to reprocess them into a new product once they sent to recycling plant

Journeyman

1207 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1243

#2228281 30-Apr-2019 23:33

attewell:

Journeyman: So a budget brand of 1L milk is $2.32 at Countdown and New World. You throw a dollar onto that and you've raised the price by 43% !

Spot on.. but they could also sell a Tetrapak 1L of milk for $2.32. So the consumer has the choice of paying $3.32 for a plastic bottle of milk or $2.32 for tetrapak?.

But why should plastic bottles be taxed and not Tetrapak? You still haven't explained your reasoning behind this. It just seems to be... plastic = bad, Tetrapak = good because... reasons.

I mean, you could sell milk in a gourd for 12 cents with no punitive levy and put a 500% tax on milk in plastic, an 80,000% tax on milk in tetrapaks, 33.333333% tax on milk in clay flagons if you just wanted to do what you feel like. But if you're going to convince anyone on the soundness of your proposition, then maybe explain your rationale?

1 | 2