34. International Public Finance Conference
Characteristics of Plastic Bag Fee and the Evaluation of This Fee by Means of Fiscal and Environmental Policy
Erdem ErcanIn many countries of the world and mainly in European countries, implementations in order to reduce the use of plastic, by means of academic, administrative and political efforts, have resulted in the form of scientific reports, conventions, directives and legal regulations at national and international level. The implementations are rapidly spreading. In parallel to these developments in Turkey, a new and integrated environmental policy began with the “Zero Waste Project” in order to implement waste segregation at source, reduce and recycle waste. In this context, the first legal step was taken to reduce the use of plastic by a series of legal regulations known as “plastic bag fee regulation”. The goal was determined as reducing the amount of annual average plastic bag usage by 90%, from 440 to 40 per capita. After that, it is foreseen to establish a recycling infrastructure which will be financed by the revenues, to be obtained from the plastic bags. This development, of course, necessitates the pursuit of an environmentally motivated fiscal policy that supports the new environmental policy. In this study, first of all the characteristics and elements of the plastic bag fees will be emphasized, and after determining the type of income of this fee, the issue will be evaluated by means of fiscal and environmental policies. Afterwards, some countries which have realized the same issue will be evaluated and it will be comparisoned with the situation in Turkey. In the final chapter suggestions to the problems which can be encountered during the implementation will be made.