Plastic Bag Levies Are Not Being Put Into Good Useby Rosa Domingos | 05-10-2018 21:25 |
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 The plastic bag levy has raised approximately close to R2-billion, yet somehow, South Africa still faces a plastic pollution crisis. In South Africa, plastic pollution has reached epic proportions. We assumed that after the then-Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, announced the increase in plastic levies to 12 cents in April 2018, much more would be done in addressing and increase recycling efforts. According to reports by online news feeder ´´Business Day´´, of the almost 2-billion ZAR that has been raised through the plastic supermarket bag levy, but only R919.6-million has been allocated to recycling efforts. The levy is applied to the manufacturers of the plastic bags but resultantly is passed down to consumers, who buy the bags at till-stations for various prices, for instance from 60c up. This increase was introduced in 2004, simultaneously integrated with a minimum limit on the thickness of the bags to aid recycling and promote re-use. This was done when the Department of Environmental Affairs, labour and business joined forces with the finance minister. The objective of increasing the price of plastic bags was to encourage people to purchase them less, and instead, consider reusing the ones that they have. Treasury reveals where the plastic bag levy allocation goes to After attempts to get some perspective from the National Treasury on this issue, the department?s response was that it had deemed that the money raised from the plastic bag levy was not exclusively committed to the recycling sector. Treasury does not consider tackling plastic pollution as a critical priority. The rest of the money was, according to the department, transferred to the National Revenue Fund (NRF) and from there would be allocated to different government departments. In my opinion, the fact that government does not see the issue of plastic pollution as a critical problem to address is upsetting and shocking. Plastic pollution, and especially microplastics, have been the cause for so much concern with regards to the health of our people. I think that even if they decided to allocate a portion of the money out, they should at-least make sure that an increase in recycling efforts are met. Reference list Sicetsha,. A. 2018. Plastic bag levy doesn?t go to increasing recycling efforts. [Online]. Available: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/plastic-bag-levy-doesnt-increasing-recycling-efforts/. Oct 03, 2018. Accessed: Oct 05, 2018. Image Sicetsha,. A. 2018. Plastic bag levy doesn?t go to increasing recycling efforts. [Online]. Available: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/plastic-bag-levy-doesnt-increasing-recycling-efforts/. Oct 03, 2018. Accessed: Oct 05, 2018. |
