The Sweden Democrats state that the tax on plastic bags will be abolished on January 1. – This is a non-issue for people, a very dysfunctional tax in many ways. A strange element in tax policy, says Oscar Sjöstedt (SD), economic policy spokesperson for SR. The controversial tax was introduced three years ago to reduce the use of plastic bags. The so-called plastic bag tax resulted in many grocery stores raising the price of an ordinary plastic bag from around three to around seven kroner. Oscar Sjöstedt (SD), does not believe that the decision will result in an increase in micro-sites in nature. – Well, I think that risk rather comes from building more wind turbines that contain a lot of microplastics. Above all, there aren’t… I don’t know any Swedes or people living in Sweden who go and throw their garbage bags in nature, then you’re weird in the head, he says to SR. “Practice example of symbolic politics” The Sweden Democrats and the Moderates have been major opponents of the plastic bag tax and demanded that it be removed. But when the government presented its first budget last autumn, the tax remained. In the spring amendment budget presented on Monday, however, the tax on plastic bags had been abolished. – It is a splendid example of symbolic politics, says Ann Tiberg, political commentator, TV4. Introduced to stop littering It was introduced in May 2020 after the Liberals pushed the issue in connection with the January agreement with S, MP and C. The goal of the tax was to reduce littering in nature and the oceans according to an EU directive. Even the Christian Democrats voted for the tax when it was possible. Just over a year later, L had backed away from the tax and instead called it “a failure” in his budget motion. The tax should be aimed at fossil raw materials, according to L. According to a survey carried out by Swedish Environmental Emissions Data on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, the sale of plastic bags clearly decreased after the tax was introduced. The effect was 83 percent fewer plastic bags per kroner of store turnover. Instead, purchases of paper bags increased significantly. In the player above: Ann Tiberg comments on the announcement in the live broadcast in the player above.
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