Conclusion The OECD's first review of economic instruments used for environmental purposes identified some 150 instruments in use in 1987, or 100 if purely administrative charges and liability are excluded. Most of these environmental taxes had little incentive impact. Although this paper has focused on waste taxes, many countries have also introduced taxes on short life or particularly hazardous products, such as the battery charges in Sweden. Deposit refund schemes encourage re-use and are used in many countries on returnable glass bottles. For example, Austria has product charges on refrigerators, Sweden on cars and Hungary on refrigerators, packaging and tires.
Economic instruments can never totally replace regulatory and other non-fiscal measures.
They are only one set of instruments that will move our production and consumption patterns to Clean Production. While the use of non renewable energy and materials should be taxed to reduce their consumption, toxic and genetically engineered materials must be banned. Contact Information Back to Two Options . Back to Economic Problem or Policies that can help Back to Question of Direction .