Israel records 73% decline in plastic bag usage by consumers in 6 years

ISRAEL – Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection report shows that the country has seen a 73% drop in disposable plastic bag use over the last 6 years.

The report said that large retailers in the country have provided nearly 474 million plastic bags to consumers in 2022, which is 73% less than the number of plastic bags sold by the country’s retailers in 2016.

This decline can be attributed to the ‘Plastic Bags Law’ that was enacted in 2016, which was made to minimize the use of disposable carry-on bags across the nation, the report highlights.

In 2021, the volume of plastic bags sold in the country was 501 million, reflecting a 71% drop from 2016.

Before the implementation of this law, large retailers purchased approximately 1.75 billion bags for circulation and distribution in the market, the ministry claimed.

The department also indicated that domestic retailers purchased roughly 5,494 tonnes of plastic bags last year, compared to 9,650 tonnes of bags in 2016.

Israel’s minister for Environmental Protection Idit Silman said: “The reduction that has occurred in the number of bags purchased by the public and retailers over the past few years indicates that proper legislation and actions to raise awareness among the public are changing consumption habits and helping to make the environment cleaner for all of us.”

Early this year, the newly formed government of Israel pledged to axe the country’s tax on single-use plastics to appease low-income ultra-Orthodox communities who cannot afford the dishwashing equipment needed to make reusable packaging viable.

Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich made the decision immediately after being sworn in on December 29 last year, saying he would end the tax ‘as quickly as possible.’

Smotrich is the leader of the ultranationalist Religious Zionist Party, which gained power in the new coalition government last month – one that is said to be the most far-right in the country’s history.

Along with widely reported accusations against Smotrich for his outspoken homophobia, support for Jewish supremacy and promotion of the occupation in Palestine’s West Bank, the minister now faces heavy criticism from Israeli environmentalists, who brand the tax’s abolition an ironic violation of “basic Jewish values.”

The tax introduced in November 2021 applies a levy of 11 NIS (US$3.12) per kg of plastic and NIS 3.3 (US$0.94) for plastic-coated paper. The tax applies to cups, plates, bowls, cutlery and straws.

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