Posted by Elaine Spitz on Wed, Aug 17, 2011 @ 05:51 AM
If you tax consumers for an item or service, you might expect them to use that item or service less to avoid paying tax. Unfortunately, the effect of Hong Kong's tax on plastic shopping bags has caused a 25% increase in the use of plastics since the levy began two years ago in July, 2009. Rather than reuse plastic shopping bags as trash bags, people have been purchasing reusable non-woven polypropylene bags for shopping and heavier-duty plastic trash bags for the purpose of garbage disposal, accounting for the increase in plastics usage.
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