What the EC needs is a packaging tax so that industry receives a clear signal that the polluter must pay. It is time to stop dithering and get on with it.
The German draconian packing law - under which industry recycles or faces the statutory threat of all packaing being returnable - is the wrong route to go. It has concentrated on increasing the supply of recycled material but has done precious little to foster demand. The result has been the dumping of waste in other countries, depressing the recycling industry there. Moreover the German system sets arbitrary targets without any consideration of the costs and benefits of achieving those targets. Our calculations suggest that the net cost to Germany could around £1bn per annum.
David Pearce and Inger Brisson, Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University Ciollege, London WC1.
Previous / Next / 1993 Social Inventions Journal Contents