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Abstract. This research aims to determine and analyse the categories of levies in the paid plastic bag policy in Indonesia, and its relevance to pollution levies. Based on analysis, this research comes to the following conclusion: the paid plastic bags policy in Indonesia cannot be categorised as a tax or charge. The main characteristics of taxes or charges are not contained in the policy of paid plastic bags, especially in terms of the legal relationship between the parties. Paying for plastic bags fits in much better with the general concept of a pollution levy. In the context of imposing a cost on consumers, the relevance of this policy to pollution-levy principles could be seen from the attainable objective, namely altering consumer behaviour through pricing. This study contributes to current global literature in the field of the use of the levy concept in the paid plastic bag policy and its relevance to pollution abatement principles.
Keywords: Plastic bags, taxes, altering behaviour
Almost every human activity produces some waste or other discharge which is no longer used. Year after year, the amount of waste discharged is increasing along with the growth in population and economic development. In 2012, Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata reported that solid waste generated by cities around the world amounted to about 1.3 billion tonnes per year. They predicted that this volume would increase to about 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025.
Indonesia, as a developing country, is experiencing problems due to the increasing amount of waste and its management. In 2015, the total amount of waste produced by regions in Indonesia had reached 175,000 tonnes per day and was predicted to amount to 67.1 million tonnes per year by 2019 (Redaksi Geotimes, 2015). From this data, plastic waste accounted for 14 percent of the total amount of waste (Wahyuni, 2016). The negative impact of plastic waste is quite high, especially on human health and the environment, particularly because of its physical nature, as it requires hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose, causing pollution of land and water in the meantime. The alternative to land/water disposal - burning plastic waste - is not recommended because it produces air emissions that are harmful to human health.
1.Legal and Policy Background
Waste management in Indonesia...