Throwing fimp can result in fines

An investigative editor means you should be able to be fined if you throw a pimp outdoors. Stock Photography.Picture: Jonas Ekströmer / TT

Researchers from the Ministry of the Environment have developed a series of proposals to reduce waste with disposable plastic items. One of them is that even small waste should be penalized with fines, such as throwing a chewing gum or a pimp.

Although nowadays it is forbidden to throw fimpar, bus tickets or gum outdoors, it is not penalized. The proposal has already been submitted for consultation and the Public Ministry is giving the go-ahead.

– I am prepared to do whatever it takes so that we have a clean environment, says the Minister of Climate and Environment Per Bolund (MP).

– I think it is quite obvious to people that we must take environmental responsibility as citizens, and that those who do not must also bear the consequences.

The Public Ministry points out that there are indeed objections in principle to the criminalization of such a trivial crime, which in most cases is committed through negligence. However, reducing total garbage should be considered of such significant interest that there are sufficient reasons to penalize minor garbage, the authority believes.

According to the research of the Ministry of the Environment, cigarette butts are the disposable plastic product that most leads to littering. Hold Sverige Rent’s 2020 garbage report shows that around 1 billion trinkets are dumped on Swedish streets and squares every year. This corresponds to approximately 108 tons of plastic. During a week in June 2020, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency conducted a garbage survey which showed that 62 percent of all garbage is garbage. During the week that the garbage measurement was carried out, around 21 million finches were found.

The researcher also points out problems with chewing gum. Chewing gum is made from synthetic rubber, latex or wax, as well as elastomers and therefore contains plastic, according to the report.

It takes between 20 and 25 years for a gum to break down and even longer for it to break down, according to research. Chewing gum is also difficult and expensive to clean.

The Public Ministry proposes that littering is more punishable by a fine.

Since 2011, you can be fined 800 SEK for the so-called littering offense. Examples of littering offenses are small amounts of discarded fast food containers, glass and plastic bottles, various types of beverage containers, or disposable racks.

In its response to the referral, the police authority states that there will be a higher workload if even littering is criminalized. But the police have no objection to the proposal.

The question, however, is how great is the risk of being fined. In 2020, only 87 people were fined for littering, according to Keep Sweden Clean.

The investigation proposal means that minor garbage will be punishable as of January 1, 2022.

The Ministry of the Environment is now reviewing the responses to the query. Per Bolund does not want to highlight an individual proposal as particularly important, but sees the various proposals as a whole.

– It is important to see how we can replace plastic materials with other materials, but also use reusable materials instead of disposable packaging and disposable items. It can be a good way to reduce plastic production, he says.

To reduce litter, the research also proposes that producers of disposable plastic products pay a fee for the litter. The money the fee is estimated to provide, roughly $ 800 million a year, will cover the municipal costs of cleaning up and treating waste products that have been thrown away.

Another proposal is that those who sell drinks and food in disposable containers offer the opportunity to obtain a reusable cup or lunch box.

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