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"Plastax" a Possible Way to Reduce Waste at Source?
從源頭減少廢物可考慮徵收膠袋稅
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"Plastax"�,
short for the Plastic Bag Environmental
Levy of Ireland, was introduced
nation-wide in March 2002. This
nine-pence levy on single-use
plastic shopping bag has resulted
in a 90 per cent drop in consumption
of plastic shopping bags, and
approximately 1 billion fewer
bags consumed annually.
Will "Plastax" work
in Hong Kong? We can't fortell
its results yet but definitely
the problem of rampant consumption
and dumping of single-use plastic
shopping bags in Hong Kong is
much graver than that in Ireland
before the introduction of Plastax.
Plastax was introduced in Ireland
to rein in the 1.2 billion plastic
shopping bags consumed per year.
In Hong Kong, people throw away
approximately 25 million plastic
bags EVERY DAY. That is equivalent
to 3.8 plastic bags per person
a day. These plastic bags eventually
end up in our landfills.
Is landfill the only outlet for
waste plastic bags? There shouldn't
be such an outlet, and it is a
most ineffectual way of treating
plastic waste. To effectively
reduce waste, waste should be
managed at source, rather than
making end-of-pipe treatment.
The government has been encouraging
the public to reduce the use of
plastic bags for more than a decade,
but has never looked into the
real possibility and feasibility
of a Plastax.
The Irish example shows how Plastax
can help uphold the two major
principles for waste management
and waste reduction, namely producer's
responsibility and polluter pays
principle. |
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A
'colourful' shoreline formed by
plastic bags
廢膠袋被沖上灘岸組成「色彩繽紛」的海岸線 |
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"It's
easy to make a difference"
- a poster communicating the mechanism
of the Plastic Bag Environmental
Levy distributed by the Irish Department
of the Environment
愛爾蘭環保部門派發有關膠袋稅的宣傳海報 |
Under such a levy scheme, producers who
claim to have the need to produce and
distribute single-use and bio-degradable
plastic shopping bags have to contribute
a certain amount to a green fund. Tax
collected from retailers will also go
to this green fund to help recycle the
plastic bags generated.
The Irish success story has prompted the
U.K., Australia, and New York City to
consider implementation of such a levy
scheme.
The idea is not to boost tax revenue,
but through levying to change consumer
behaviour and to make recycling effectively
work.
Edwin Lau, Assistant Director, Friends
of the Earth (HK) |
| 本港使用及棄掉的膠袋數目驚人，據政府數字顯示，香港人每日棄掉二千五百萬個膠袋，平均每人每天棄
掉3.8個。 這些膠袋絕大部分被棄置於堆填區，帶給我們極有限的堆填區沉重的壓力。
棄置堆填區是否解決香港嚴重過濫使用膠袋的唯一辦法呢？答案是否定的。
廢物管理的方法大致可分三種：一，從源頭減少；二，循環再造；三，棄置及堆埋。香港特區政府所採用多年的方法只有堆埋及焚化。政府亦曾推行膠袋回收試驗計劃，但計劃的宣傳策略頗低調，成效亦不甚理想。
最理想，但香港一直沒廣泛研究及提出執行的是從源頭減少膠袋，或以稅收鼓勵市民自備購物袋。
這關係到兩個管理廢物和減廢的大原則：一是污梁者自負(Polluter
Pays Principle)；二是生產者責任(Producer's
Responsibility)。要達到從源頭減少廢物，政府應研究如何把上述兩個大原則落實為環保政策和法規，使生產商及用者減少製造和使用一次性的膠袋，履行市民應負的環境責任。
香港地球之友認為生產商及零售商均有責任去處理他們所產生的廢物，包括於源頭減少及於使用後回收。而市民作為用者亦有責任去減少製造廢物及把廢物適當地分類回收，減少浪費資源。
全面實施徵收膠袋稅𥅽速使市民和生者商變得環保起來。當生產商大量製造膠袋出售時，政府可按他們的生產量徵收稅款，藉此鼓勵生產商減少製造或改變生產非一次性或可降解的膠袋。這樣也同時為政府集資來成立一個基金專責回收掉棄的膠袋。有了資源政府便可以更有效地聘用回收商協助政府在社區把膠袋循環回收。
而從零售商入手也並不困難，政府應積極推動超市、便利店、街市、百貨公司等全面停止免費提供膠袋。顧客如索取膠袋，店鋪便收取費用；收取的費用撥入由政府成立的專責回收膠袋基金，為膠袋循環再用的運作費。這個做法正合符污染者自負的原則。
大部份港人都是精打細算的，少用甚至不用一次性的膠袋便不須付出這些額外金錢；這理念的背後又同時推動市民認識理性消費，主動要求免卻無謂的包裝。
愛爾蘭在實施徵收膠袋稅不久，膠袋的使用量便大幅下降九成半。而德國和加拿大的超市，則主動自發性地推行停止給予免費膠袋。
港府需立定决心追趕其他國家的環保步伐，徵收膠稅及禁止店鋪免費送贈膠袋，才能正面及有效地處理環境問題，帶領香港邁進環保及可持續發展的道路。
香港地球之友助理總幹事劉祉鋒
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Waste
Facts & Figures 廢物資料檔
* Each year, an estimated 500 billion
to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed
worldwide.
* Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles,
birds and other animals die each year
from swallowing plastic bags mistaken
for food.
* 每年全球的膠袋使用量估計有5千億到1萬億個。
* 全球每年數以千計的海龜、禽鳥及其他動物因為誤把膠袋當作食物而吞下致命。
Source 資料來源：
reusablebags.com |
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