Put The Spork Away: France Imposes ‘Picnic Tax’

Do you remember “sporks”? Those plastic spoon-meets-fork utensils that you can get at fast food restaurants?

I remember seeing my first spork at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. I ordered the cole slaw (I have cole slaw issues, am slightly addicted) and got a plastic sealed package of salt, pepper, napkin and spork. It was, I thought, genius.

But now, I realize that it’s also quite wasteful (sorry, KFC) because it’s a lot of plastic and trash (I don’t even use salt and pepper – on coleslaw? Horrors!). And of course, I’m not the only one. Many consumers are trying to limit the amount of disposable items that they use at fast food restaurants and take aways. And at least one country is taking it a step further: France has declared war on the spork.

I’m not kidding. The French legislature has introduced a plan to charge a €.90 (before yesterday, that was roughly $1.26 – no telling what the dollar will be worth today after yesterday’s spectacular market plunge) surtax on all plastic utensils, including the infamous spork. The idea is to encourage the purchase of fewer plastic utensils and more environmentally friendly products.

Will the tax work? Perhaps. Imposing taxes and fees on plastic bags has yielded mixed results. Some critics hail it as a success in places like Ireland, while trade groups argue that the impact has been minimal.

Tax policy has often been used as a means to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Weaning the public off of the convenience of disposable items may be tough – arguably, consumers may not even notice the additional tax on their bills as the costs of food increases… What do you think? Would the extra tax be enough for you to put away the spork?

Kelly Phillips Erb

Kelly Phillips Erb is a tax attorney, tax writer, and podcaster.

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