2022.09.05

”The electronics tax is political greenwashing”

Companies are sometimes accused for greenwashing. Less noticed but just as serious is political greenwashing – reforms that are described as green without any basis. A clear example is the electronics tax. The government has marketed it as an environmental tax, but in practice it is just a way for the state to collect money, with no positive effect on the environment. Despite several authorities pointing out the lack of environmental benefits, the government has continued to raise the tax.

On July 1, 2017, the electronics tax was introduced. When the tax was introduced, the starting point was good. Reducing the presence of certain environmentally and health-hazardous substances in people's home environment is something that most people can agree with. Electronics such as white goods, telephones and computers were identified as sources of some of these substances. What is not mentioned in the debate is why the substances are in the products. The flame retardants that are taxed are used in the products to make them fireproof. There are strict safety requirements for electronic products, which is also very reasonable.

Unfortunately, the tax's shortcomings The tax does not stop there and the white goods industry has been hit particularly hard. The tax amount, which is determined based on the type and weight of the product, hits household appliances particularly hard because they tend to weigh a lot – without the amount of flame retardant being different from other electronic products. Last year, white goods accounted for almost half of the total tax payment for the electronics tax.

Read the full article in SvD published on September 4th here