通过对塑料袋征税，它的使用可以减少到一定的百分比。税收的最终好处将是对全球环境造成更少的生产排放物、更少的不可降解的垃圾填埋场塑料垃圾和更少的海洋污染。一些国家已经对塑料袋的使用征税。这些国家包括爱尔兰、威尔士、丹麦、南非、德国、比利时、墨西哥和许多其他国家(Clapp & Swanston 2009)。塑料袋使用率下降最快的是威尔士，2011年10月对塑料袋征收了超额费用，到2012年7月塑料袋使用率下降了96% (Musa et al .， 2013)。在征收了90%的塑料袋税之后，爱尔兰的塑料袋使用量也显著下降(Musa et al .， 2013)。
替代政策可以是全面禁止使用塑料袋。在澳大利亚，一些州甚至在“零浪费”计划下独立执行这一政策。在南澳大利亚州，这项计划于2008年开始实施，禁止使用轻便袋，这使得每年节省了4亿个袋子。中国也从2008年开始禁止使用塑料袋(Musa et al .， 2013)。意大利禁止所有不可降解的塑料袋。这项政策也可以减少环境和海洋污染，用可降解的塑料袋，如纸，取代塑料袋。
By imposing the tax on plastic bags, its use can be reduced to a certain percentage. The ultimate benefit of tax will be upon the global environment by causing less production emissions, less plastic garbage at landfills which is non-degradable and less marine pollutions. Certain countries have already imposed taxes on plastic bags usage. These countries include Ireland, Wales, Denmark, South Africa, Germany, Belgium, Mexico and many others (Clapp & Swanston 2009). The highest rate of reduction in use of plastic bag is witnessed in Wales, where surplus charge on plastic bag was imposed in October 2011 and by July 2012 the usage of plastic bag fall by 96% (Musa et al, 2013). Ireland has also a notable reduction in plastic bag usage after levy a tax that is 90% (Musa et al, 2013).
The policy of applying tax on plastic bags can be effective if applied through an efficient policy. There are also certain limitations of imposing tax on plastic bags. It has been argued by people that they already pay a number of taxes and a one more tax on plastic bag has only added to their financial burden. Hence, a tax on plastic bag can be a headache for low income group of the country. Moreover, small store retailers will also be burdened by this tax. To avoid these happenings, alternate policies can be reviewed.
The alternate policy can be a total ban on usage of plastic bags. In Australia, some states are even following this policy independently under ‘Zero Waste’ program. In South Australia, this program was introduced in 2008 to ban lightweight bags, which resulted in saving 400 million bags annually under this policy. China has also banned usage of plastic bag since 2008 (Musa et al, 2013). Italy has banned all bags which are not biodegradable. This policy can also reduce environmental and marine pollution by replacing plastic bags with biodegradable bags such as paper.