Views: Pros and Cons Topic Map Slideshow

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Category: Environment
Tags: plastic bag tax, green tax, ecotax, Hong Kong
 +61.56% +61.56% +61.56% +61.56%

  Support:
 +61.56%
Points:
Implementing a plastic bag tax would be beneficial for Hong Kong  
  • because: implementing plastic bag tax helps protect the environment  +61.56%

    • because: the tax helps change the attitude and behavior of the community in plastic bag consumption  +68.33%

      • because: the tax deters people from using unnecessary plastic bags  +68.33%

        • because: A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% (news.bbc.co.uk) +68.33%

      • because: on no-plastic bag days, which are held one day a month, an average of 50 percent of shoppers bring along their own bags (www.thestandard.com.hk) 

      • because: with the tax implemented, people will try to replace the use of disposable plastic bags with recycled bags whenever it is possible  

        • because: It can protect the environment since the amount of plastic bag people used will be decreased efficiently.  

        • because: the government expects to cut the number of plastic bags used annually from the current 1.8 billion to one billion (www.thestandard.com.hk) 

    • because: the tax enhances public awareness of environment protection  

    • but: retailers will switch to alternatives such as paper bags, which are actually more polluting  

    • but: plastic bag is not the most urgent environmental problem, government should focus on those more serious environmental issues  -65%

      • but: around 1064 tonnes of plastic bags are disposed in landfills every day, which roughly equals 33 millions plastic bags (www.budget.gov.hk) +65%

      • because: the government should support and develop recycling industry instead of just levying tax on plastic bag  

        • because: usually 100 percent of a plastic bag can be recycled and the recycling process does not pollute  (Wikipedia (2019)) 

      • because: plastic bags are extraordinarily energy-efficient in manufacture, even more so than paper bags (www.bpf.co.uk) 

        • because: plastic bags prevent waste of goods carried, and the embodied energy can be recovered either by recycling or via energy-from-waste systems (www.bpf.co.uk) 

      • because: disposable plastic bags are usually bio-degradable, while polystyrene utensils, which are not, causes more problems to the environment  

  • but: implementing plastic bag tax greatly affect the daily living of the people  

    • but: many of the daily goods will be exempted  

    • because: levying plastic bag tax will greatly affect the business of small supermarkets  

    • because: plastic bags are useful and provide a hygienic, odourless, waterproof, robust and convenient way of carrying goods  

  • but: plastic bag tax is unfair  

    • but: the tax is indeed fair as it is levied on "user pays" principle  

    • because: it is a regressive tax, it is not proportional to people's salaries, higher income people do not need to pay higher plastic bag tax  

      • but: both lower and higher income people can avoid the tax by not using plastic bags, so the regressive argument does not apply  

  • because: implementing plastic bag tax has positive effects to Hong Kong's economy in the long run  

    • but: implementing plastic bag tax will severely affect the business and livelihood of polymer producers, distributors and suppliers, additives suppliers, processors  

    • because: the tax helps project the image of Hong Kong as an environmentally-friendly city in the world, this helps attract talent to work in Hong Kong  

    • because: the tax is good for environmental protection business development  

  • because: implementing plastic bag tax helps increase government revenue  

    • but: according to overseas experience, revenue to be generated from ecotax would usually be deployed to other environmental protection schemes (www.taxreform.gov.hk) 

      • because: the main objective of the tax is to change the attitude and behavior of the community in order to conserve the environment instead of raising government revenue (www.taxreform.gov.hk) 

    • because: the government expects to generate about HK$200 million a year from the plastic bag tax (www.thestandard.com.hk) 

    • because: A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has raised millions of euros in revenue (news.bbc.co.uk) 

    • because: plastic bag tax helps broaden the tax base of the government  


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