Lawmakers move to abolish tax that effectively curbed usage of problematic household item: 'We don't know what will happen now'

Swedish lawmakers voted to end a tax on plastic bags despite overwhelming evidence that the tax had significantly curbed their use.

What's happening?

Plastic bag use plummeted in Sweden by more than 75% once the tax was enacted, but lawmakers just voted to sunset the tax. The reasoning seems to be that plastic bag use is down, so the tax can be lifted.

This despite warnings that plastic bag use — and, therefore, the issues associated with that — will almost certainly increase.

"We don't think the government should lower the tax already," Åsa Stenmarck, a spokesperson for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, told The Guardian. "We think they could have evaluated this properly before making a decision."

Why should plastic bag use be curbed, anyway?

Plastic bags may be convenient, but they're terrible for the environment and a persistent pain.

In America, according to the University of Colorado, it takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce enough plastic bags to satisfy the country. The bags are generally used only once, for only a few minutes, but when they end up in landfills, they sit there for more than 1,000 years, slowly decomposing.

Watch now: NYC just expanded its curbside composting program

They're also difficult to recycle, requiring special facilities, and when they end up in the wrong recycling location, they can get caught in machinery and cause malfunctions, according to ABC News.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we're now just beginning to realize how much microplastics, the minute bits of plastic that are shed from things such as plastic bags, are invisibly poisoning our bodies and environment.

The European Union already has a rule in place that for member countries plastic bag consumption must be below 40 bags per person per year by 2025, or fines will be levied against the country. It's of course not yet known whether Sweden can hit that mark without the tax, but people are already concerned.

🗣️ Should plastic grocery bags be banned nationwide?

🔘 Absolutely 👍

🔘 No way 👎

🔘 Let each state decide 🤔

🔘 I'm not sure 🤷

🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

"We don't know what will happen now," Stenmarck said. "The consumption target of 40 bags per person still exists from 2025 onwards and if we don't reach it, we will be fined by the EU."

What can be done to limit plastic bag use without the tax?

Since Sweden first instituted the tax on plastic bags in 2020, the average number of plastic bags each Swede used in a year dropped from 74 to 17. The tax was levied on companies that made the bags and those that imported them, according to the Library of Congress.

But supermarkets had already been charging for plastic bags at the point of purchase. Now that the tax has been eliminated, it's hoped people are already used to bringing their own reusable bags shopping and won't be interested in having their purchases bagged in plastic.

Stenmarck is unhappy with the government's decision but is hopeful that after four years of the tax, shoppers will have "largely changed their behaviour and carry their own bags."