It’s been some time now since the government instituted new taxes ostensibly to reduce the amount of plastic consumed through the use of plastic shopping bags. I believe now is a good time to look back at the results.

Although plastic shopping bags (with handles) have indeed been almost eliminated, there has simultaneously been a surge in the use of black garbage bags and bin liners as well as transparent bags without handles which, apparently, do not fall under the new tax. Until the new taxes were in place, most people used to reuse their plastic shopping bags to take out the garbage. Streets would have lots of white shopping bags ready to be collected. Now, the same amount of bags are used, only black. At a glance, I don’t believe the total amount of plastic has been affected at all, only its colour and the presence of handles.

I believe the government had the right idea initially, which was to impose taxes on non-degradable plastics, a lower tax on degradable plastics and exempt biodegradable bags entirely. There are today both European and American standards for certifying plastics as biodegradable, which could be adopted to Malta’s needs. I urge the authorities to consider returning to this system.