11.1.5. Charges on Environmentally Damaging Products and Activities

Levied in numerous industrialized countries, product charges are imposed either on a product or some characteristic of that product. Although some of these charges may discourage consumption, many of them are advance disposal fees intended to finance the proper disposal of the products after their use. Products on which charges have been imposed include automotive air conditioners (Canada), batteries (Canada, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden), beverage containers (Belgium, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), building materials (Denmark), CFCs (Australia and Denmark), fertilizers (Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), light bulbs (Denmark and Korea), lubricating oil (Finland, France, Italy, Norway, and Spain), packaging (Belgium and Germany), pesticides (Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), plastic and paper bags (Italy, Iceland, and Denmark), sulfur in oil (Finland, Norway, and Sweden), and tires (Taiwan and Canada).

In 1993, South Korea imposed advance disposal fees on several products that are difficult to treat or recycle. As shown in Table 11-10, a large number of products are subject to the fees, but the amounts are rather low.

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