Israel abolishes plastic tax

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The new Israeli government will abandon the tax on plastic plates and disposable cutlery, said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Reuters reports.

The decision, apparently defying global efforts to reduce the amount of plastic waste polluting the oceans, comes after opposition to the tax by religious parties who said the law unfairly targeted their communities.
Smotrich, who was sworn in on Thursday, said his first decision in office was to abolish the plastic tax, as well as the tax on sweetened beverages, "as soon as possible".

The Ministry of Environmental Protection, which recorded a 50 percent drop in the use of the mentioned type of plastic since the introduction of the tax in 2021, said it is studying Smotrich's decision and its consequences.

There was opposition to the plastic tax in Israel among ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, which are strongly represented in the new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

A parliamentary report from November 2021 found that ultra-Orthodox Jewish families use plastic tableware three times more than the rest of the population because they often have large families and low incomes, and many of them do not own dishwashers.