Sweden plans to end plastic bag tax in 2024

Sweden is planning to abolish its tax on plastic bags on Nov. 1, 2024.

The tax of three Swedish kronor – approximately 28 cents – was introduced by Sweden’s Ministry of Finance in 2020 to achieve the EU’s consumption target for plastic carrier bags. But in the last two years, Swedish officials say, the consumption of thin plastic carrier bags in Sweden has been below 20 plastic carrier bags per person per year, which is well below 40 thin plastic carrier bags per person per year, which is the consumption target set by the EU.

“Against this background, the government assesses that the EU’s consumption target will be achieved even without a tax on plastic carrier bags, and therefore proposes that it be abolished,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

In 2019, the year before the plastic bag tax was introduced, Swedes were buying 74 plastic bags per year per person, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); by 2022, two years after the tax began, Swedes were buying only 17 plastic bags per person per year.

The Swedish government said in a press release that it will continue to “closely monitor” the evolution of plastic bag consumption after the tax has been abolished.