IIn Sweden, the levy on plastic bags, which was introduced in 2020, will be abolished. „We are convinced that Swedes use plastic bags sensibly in their everyday lives and there is no reason why they should be more expensive,“ said Minister of Environment Romina Pourmokhtari on Wednesday to SVT. The levy also leads to unnecessary costs and increases the consumption of alternative products. It will no longer be applicable from November 2024.
In 2020, the then-social democratic government implemented a charge of three crowns (0.25 euros) per bag to comply with EU regulations on the consumption of single-use plastic. The consumption of bags did indeed decrease significantly: in 2019, it was still at 74 plastic bags per person per year, but in 2022, it had dropped to only 17. The EU aims for a target of 40 bags per capita.
Seit vergangenem Jahr regieren in Stockholm die Konservativen mit Unterstützung der rechtspopulistischen Schwedendemokraten. Vergangene Woche hatte die Regierung bereits mit der Ankündigung, die Steuern auf Diesel und Benzin zu senken, bei Umweltschützern und der Opposition für Kritik gesorgt.