Sweden, once considered a model in terms of environmental protection and combating global warming, continues to regress. While its greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase (+7% and +5.6% in the first and second quarters), the Scandinavian kingdom has decided to eliminate, as of November 1, the tax on purchased plastic bags in cash, which raises fears of a rebound in its use.
This tax, which amounts to 3 crowns (about 26 euro cents), and which raises the price of plastic bags to about 7 crowns, was introduced in May 2020, at the request of the Liberal Party, which had imposed it as a condition for their support of the government. formed by social democrats and environmentalists. The Sweden Democrats (far right) demand its disappearance from their alliance with the liberal conservative government, which took power in October 2022.
However, the system has proven effective: the number of plastic bags purchased increased from 74 on average per person in Sweden in 2019 to 17 in 2023, well below the European target, set at a maximum of 40 bags per person for 2025. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the introduction of the tax was. “a determining factor” in the 75% drop in the use of these bags between 2020 and 2021, which has continued since then.
In most supermarkets, very thin packaging bags, reserved for fruits and vegetables, have also disappeared, replaced by paper bags. In 2023, the Swedes only used 6 per person.
To justify the elimination of the tax, announced in September 2023, the government highlights Sweden’s excellent results, compared to the European target, arguing that the system is now superfluous and could even “have negative effects”as “administrative costs”and the“increased consumption of other solutions”.
In a column published on November 1 in the tabloid AftonbladetOscar Sjöstedt, one of the spokespersons for the Sweden Democrats, enjoys a victory “ideological”. He sees in the tax “the symptom of a contemptuous mentality”, WHO “It would make daily life more difficult for Swedes”with the aim of“appease a political elite that often does not suffer from the policies they impose on the people”.
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