...Environmental tax 5 II. THE LEVY ON PLASTIC BAGS IN IRELAND 8 II.1. Summary 8 II.2.The nature of the levy 10 II.3. Implementation and enforcement 12 II.4. Results and impacts 12 III. LESSON FROM PLASTIC BAGS LEVY IN IRELAND 17 III.1. Ireland’s lessons 17 III.2. Plastic bags levy in Vietnam: 19 CONCLUSION 23 REFERENCES 24 INTRODUCTION Now that people increasingly pay more attention to environmental issues, they are manifested in all areas of life. Air pollution? Do not worry. Already a car powered by electricity or eco-gasoline or even grass. Water pollution? Do not worry. Already advanced wastewater treatment technologies. So what if the pollution is caused by the consumption of plastic bags? Not easy to answer. Let’s stand in the shoes of a public economist. The consumption of plastic bags brings a lot of benefits for everyone. If you are a manufacturer of plastic bags, you will get a lot of money as your profit. If you are a consumer of plastic bags, you will be satisfied with the benefits that they bring you. They are cheap, very light and of course, very easy to throw away after used. Now the problem has arisen. Have you ever wondered where plastic bags will be after discarded? We can say for sure that they do not disappear. They stay and pollute the environment. Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik used to say: "The impact of this plastic waste can be seen littering our landscape, threatening our wildlife and accumulating as 'plastic soup' in the...
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...n9734007 CORRECTING EXTERNALITIES IN CONSUMPTION Word count: 1160 Introduction This research essay aims to provide an insight and overview of the economic effects of a plastic bag tax. It is important that this issue is addressed because if it is left unaddressed, the consequences could be dire. The essay will discuss the impact that plastic bags are having on society and why the over consumption of such needs to be corrected. Furthermore, it will explain the economic models that are relevant to the issue along with analysing real world examples of similar policies; discussing the limitations and restrictions associated with such models. Setting the Context Australia’s consumption of plastic grocery bags was estimated to be approximately seven billion per year in 2002 (National Plastic Shopping Bags Working Group, 2002), so we can assume it is in excess of this figure currently. This consumption results in negative externalities, not only impacting the environment, but also reducing the efficiency of other sectors of the economy. As these plastic bags are composed of many non-renewable resources such as crude oil, coal and gases, there is an opportunity cost associated with not recycling them. The fuel consumed by driving a car one kilometre is equivalent to the petroleum content of 8.7 bags (Environment Australia, 2002). As these bags are used once, and disregarded, that means that Australia is wasting enough potential fuel to power a car for over...
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...of carrying out an exchange of goods and services (Hubbard et al, 2009). As transaction costs of negotiating, binding and monitoring the agreement are very expensive when many individuals are involved, the transaction costs can exceed the gains from the transaction itself. When these two assumptions are held, an optimal solution will be reached when the monetary damage of one more unit of pollution to the third party is equal to the amount the polluter is willing to pay for it. Figure 2 Figure 2 This diagram represents the marginal benefits and costs of reducing pollution, in which equilibrium (P0, Q0) is the point of maximum net benefit to society, where marginal cost is equal to the marginal benefits of reducing pollution of plastic bags. The net benefit...
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...30 October 2014 The True Price for Plastic Did you know that plastic bags are one of the largest sources of litter in the world? According to research discussed on “How Stuff Works”, plastic bags can take anywhere from two hundred to a thousand years to break down. They also give off toxic chemicals when burned, so burning is a hazardous way to rid of the material. Because of this it is difficult to safely dispose of plastic. According to the same site, less than 1% of plastic bags used in the US are recycled due to recycling costs being much higher than the recovered plastic is worth. States are attempting to find new strategies to reduce the number of plastic carry-out bags from grocery stores and other retail outlets to help with the issues arising. They believe regulating the use of bags can lower harmful impacts to oceans, rivers, lakes and the wildlife that inhabits them. Reducing bag use can also relieve pressure on landfills and waste management. One of the methods being experimented with is charging for the plastic bags given out at grocery stores. This is definitely something stores should try to help out both economically and environmentally. Economically, charging for plastic could help the world in a few ways. It would profit the community, it would put more money into recycling as more people buy reusable bags, and it could cut costs on manufacturing these bags, making it possible to put money elsewhere. Charging for plastic would create an extra income for grocers...
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...five-pence carrier bag tax | Source of the article | BBC NEWShttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22047872 | Date the article was published | 08/04/2013 | Date the commentary was written | 29/ 12/2013 | Word count (750 words maximum) | 749 words | Section of the syllabus the article relates to (please tick the one that is most relevant) | * Section 1: Microeconomics * Section 2: Macroeconomics * Section 3: International Economics * Section 4: Development Economics | Commentary Number 1 News Article Northern Ireland's new five-pence carrier bag tax 8 April 2013Last updated at 15:37 GMT The Department of the Environment hopes to see an 80% reduction in bag use. The new levy on plastic carrier bags has come into effect in Northern Ireland. Retailers must now charge shoppers at least five pence for each new single-use carrier bag. The proceeds of the tax will be forwarded to the Department of the Environment. The department hopes to see an 80% reduction in the use of carrier bags as a result of the levy. The tax also applies to bags made from paper, plant-based material, or natural starch. The regulations also allow for a range of exemptions on the grounds of hygiene and food safety, the protection of goods and consumers, and confidentiality in respect of bags for medicines. Environment minister Alex Attwood said he believed "the vast majority of people" would be happy with the introduction of the new levy and realised that plastic bags and single use...
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... Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 13, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Nancy Skinner, Chair AB 87 (Davis) - As Amended: March 18, 2009 SUBJECT : Solid waste: single-use carryout bags. SUMMARY : This bill establishes a statewide fee of 25 cents for single-use carryout bags (bags), of all types, beginning in 2010. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires operators of stores (defined as supermarkets and stores over 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy) to establish an in-store plastic carryout bag recycling program. The program must include: a) Plastic bags provided by the store to include a label encouraging customers to return the bag to the store for recycling; b) Easily accessible recycling bins for plastic bags; c) All plastic bags collected must be recycled in a manner consistent with the local jurisdiction's recycling plan; d) The store must maintain records relating to the program for at least three years and must make the records available to the local jurisdiction or California Integrated Waste Management...
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...to re-evaluate their shopping experience, as Austin will be going bagless beginning March 1, 2013. All consumers use plastic or paper bags on a regular basis, whether while retail shopping or grocery shopping. That’s all about to change, however; the passage of this new law means that those paper and plastic bags are on the way out. Single-use bag use will be diminished, re-usable bags are headed to the forefront, and shoppers will be getting used to a new experience when the head to their local grocery early next year. BACKGROUND According to a city report released this year, “Austinities use 263 million plastic bags a year – that’s more than 330 bags a year for every resident. It costs the city – meaning it costs us the taxpayers – about $850,000 a year to dispose of plastic bags.”(Lisheron, 2012) Consumers in Austin have already started to get a taste of what is to come. Companies, such as Walgreens, have implemented a trial test on stores to gauge the impact of the law being passed. Candace White, an avid shopper at the Slaughter and South Congress Walgreens, was quite confused when the cashier thanked her for coming but did not place her products in a plastic bag. The cashier informed her about Austin going bagless and she was given a free recycled bag. Like most Austinities, she was not informed of the new law which is soon to be enforced. This paper will reinforce the reasons why going bagless is good for all involved parties. To better understand the effect of this...
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...The Effects of Plastic Bags on Environmentt * | * The effects of plastic bags on the environment are really quite devastating. While there are many objections to the banning of plastic bags based solely on their convenience, the damage to the environment needs to be controlled. * There is no way to strictly limit the effects of plastic bags on the environment because there is no disposal method that will really help eliminate the problem. While reusing them is the first step, most people either don't or can't based on store policies. They are not durable enough to stand up to numerous trips to the store so often the best that citizens can do is reuse them when following pooper scooper laws. * The biggest problem with this is that once they have been soiled the end up in the trash, which then ends up in the landfill or burned. Either solution is very poor for the environment. Burning emits toxic gases that harm the atmosphere and increase the level of VOCs in the air while landfills hold them indefinitely as part of the plastic waste problem throughout the globe. * Plastic Bag Litter * Even when citizens try to manage their plastic bag disposal wind plays a role in carrying them away as litter. This litter is not biodegradable and thus where it lands it tends to stay for long period of time. A bag that is eventually ripped to shreds from high winds or other factors doesn't disappear but instead is spread in smaller amounts throughout the area. This can cause...
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...3/20/2012 | | Strategic Management Project Report | Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 Introduction 5 The Company 6 Corporate Social Responsibility 7 Adoption of a Primary School 7 Health Check-Up Camp 7 Product Portfolio 8 FIBC Jumbo Bags 8 Geo Textile Fabrics and Ground Covers 8 Reverse Printed BOPP Bags 8 Special PP bags and Leno bags 8 Proposed Projects 9 Polymer Compounding 9 Injection Moulded Articles 9 The Present Strategy 9 Business Model 9 Strengths 9 Weaknesses 10 Value Chain – Operations 10 Distribution 10 Sales and Marketing 11 FIBC (Export) 11 FIBC (Domestic) 11 Geo Textile Fabric and Ground Cover 11 Reverse-Printed BOPP Bags 11 Research and Development 12 Business Strategy 12 Core Competence 12 New Products 12 Diversified Applications 12 In House Research and Development 12 Connecting with End Customer 12 Corporate Strategy 13 Corporate Structure 13 References 14 Executive Summary Introduction In this report we present an analysis of Flexituff International Ltd from a strategic management standpoint. Starting from the company vision, mission and values statements, we have perform an analysis of their internal and external environments. We have studied their value chain and identified their key success factors. The industry analysis also reveals the key strengths and weaknesses of Flexituff International Ltd. We have also studied their organizational structure and its effect on the company’s strategic operations. Furthermore...
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...Carly Kupka RA #1 OLIS 611 Waste Reduction and Recycling Up until now, our primary strategies to reduce waste has been recycling, reducing, and reusing. While these are all important tools in waste reduction, a new way of thinking about waste needs to occur; a fourth R: “Rethinking” means that waste doesn’t have to be a part of the consumption cycle at all (Roseland). While we have a very long way to go in achieving this zero-waste idea, we can still start by rethinking all aspects of a production process; starting with the initial design process down to reusing or recycling all by-products. The City of Eugene is doing its part in Recycling, Reducing and Reusing, as well as Rethinking about waste by partnering with local non-profits and schools to educate the community in resource conservation as well as providing recycling services and composting programs. The budget for Solid Waste and Recycling in Eugene accounts for 0.3% of the total budget, or $1,476 for the year. There are four major sectors and program coordinators working for the City’s waste management and recycling department: • Stephanie Scafa- Zero Waste Analyst for the Waste Prevention and Green Building Program • Anne Donahue- Compost and Urban Agriculture • Nancy Young- Solid Waste Analyst for the Waste Prevention Program • Ethan Nelson- Recycling contact for Waste Prevention and Green Building Program Roseland suggests many tools and initiatives in waste management that local government can use to...
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...SUBSTITUTION OF PLASTIC BAG BY JUTE BAGCASE COMPANY REDQ Support on Sustainable Environment Thesis Tania Afrin Degree Programme in International Business International Marketing Management Accepted ___.___._____ __________________________________ SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Business and Administration, Varkaus Degree Programme, option Degree Programme in International Business. BBA, International Marketing Management. Author(s) Tania Afrin Title of study SUBSTITUTION OF PLASTIC BAG BY JUTE BAG -CASE COMPANY redQ Support on sustainable development Type of project Date Pages Thesis April 2011 70 + 5 Supervisor(s) of study Executive organisation Anneli Savolainen Business and Administration Abstract Sustainable development is one of the most important issues in the world today. People can play an important role in the sustainable development in different ways regardless of their own position. This study focuses on finding out how plastic bags could be substituted by jute bags and how it would contribute to the sustainable development. In addition, the study focuses on answering the question if the idea of substituting plastic bags by jute bags would be a profitable business innovation. For the study, it was examined how some Finnish customers liked the jute bag as a shopping bag and what was their attitude towards sustainable issues. The information collected in connection with this thesis work will...
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...Environmental Pollution Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today. It is an issue that troubles us economically, physically and everyday of our lives. The contamination of the environment is also being linked to some of the diseases that are around currently. Yet, most people do not know about this problem. This shows that environmental pollution is becoming an increasingly worse problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, not only for the good of the environment but also for the people that live in it. Many factors are present for why environmental pollution has become such a large issue in the world. However, if the people of the world were to address the issue it would definitely help both the environment and it’s people. There are many activities that can be done by both the common citizen to the governments of the world, which could severally improve the world’s environmental problem. On the other hand, if the current way the world’s environmental problem is being handled continues, catastrophic consequences can follow for the future population. http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/12389.html Nowadays environmental problems are too big to be managed by individual persons or individual countries. In other words, it is an international problem. To what extent do you agree or disagree? An essential problem of the 21st century is world pollution. Currently the environment is so much contaminated that urgent measures...
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...What is the manner in which you dispose waste? For individuals, Hong Kong people have many wasteful habits. Plastic bags, expanded-polystyrene lunchboxes and over-packaged products are commonly used. A recycling programme that provides recycling bins has also been running in schools since 2000 to enhance students' understanding of the importance of conserving resources and separating waste. The increase in the volume of recyclables collected over the years proves the success of the programme in turning students' awareness into action. Overall speaking, Hong Kong has an imminent waste problem. At present, we rely solely on our landfills to dispose of our waste. 40% of our waste are for recycling. We must address the waste problem in a holistic manner. This Policy Framework sets out a comprehensive strategy consisting of a series of tried and proven policy tools and measures to tackle our waste problem head on and achieve the following targets: |Target 1: |To reduce the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in Hong Kong by 1% per annum up to the year 2014. | |Target 2: |To increase the overall recovery rate of MSW to 45% by 2009 and 50% by 2014. | |Target 3: |To reduce the total MSW disposed of in landfills to less than 25% by 2014. | Tackling the Problem at Source Waste avoidance and minimization...
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...OVERVIEW India is the fifth largest retail market globally, with a size of INR 16trn, and has been growing at 15% per annum. Organized retail accounts for just 5% of total retail sales and has been growing at 35% CAGR. Though the journey has so far been rather mixed, organized retail is being tipped as one of the biggest gainers from growing consumerism and rising income. India’s robust macro and microeconomic fundamentals, such as robust GDP growth, higher incomes, increasing personal consumption, favourable demographics and supportive government policies, will accelerate the growth of the retail sector. 1) Learning from the Past: During2005-2007, the sector was in a hyper growth phase. In pursuit to capture market, companies made strategic as well as operational errors which has been broadly classified as follows: I .Race for increasing retail space resulting in haphazard growth ii. Unviable formats iii. High lease rentals iv. Manpower costs and productivity issues v. Poor back end infra structure vi. Entry of too many new players 2) Consolidation:Duringtheglobalslowdownphaseof2007-2009,theIndianretailplayerspausedtorealizetheirpastmistakesandtooktimeandefforttore-organizethemselves:i.Focusonprofitablegrowth * Exit from unprofitable stores/formats * Rental renegotiation/revenue sharing arrangements * Reduction in salaries/higher manpower productivity * Significant investments in backend ...
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...What’s So Bad About Plastic Bags? Plastic bags are not biodegradable. They clog waterways, spoil the landscape, and end up in landfills where they may take 1,000 years or more to break down into ever smaller particles that continue to pollute the soil and water. Plastic bags also pose a serious danger to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags. Finally, producing plastic bags requires millions of gallons of petroleum that could be used for transportation or heating. Consider a Personal Ban on Plastic Bags Some businesses have stopped offering their customers plastic bags, and many communities are either considering a ban on plastic bags or have already implemented one. Meanwhile, here are a couple of things you can do to help: Switch to reusable shopping bags. Reusable shopping bags made from renewable materials conserve resources by replacing paper and plastic bags. Reusable bags are convenient and come in a variety of sizes, styles and materials. When not in use, some reusable bags can be rolled or folded small enough to fit easily into a pocket. Recycle your plastic bags. If you do end up using plastic bags now and then, be sure to recycle them. Many grocery stores now collect plastic bags for recycling. If yours doesn't, check with your community recycling program to learn how to recycle plastic bags in your area. ---________________________________________...
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