Denmark’s politicians are going to vote on a proposal to put a huge new green tax on print, in a move specifically designed to discourage print’s use, as they believe it is bad for the environment.
The madcap move will be voted on in January, and will have a massive impact on the local printing industry with significant job losses and plant closures expected if the proposal gets a yes.
The draft legislation proposes a €0.5 per kg tax on all printed products, with a 50 per cent discount if the product carries the EU Ecolabel. Denmark’s politicians already freely use the taxation system to execute policy, it has sky high taxes on paper and plastics for packaging.
[Related: More environment news]
Per Kaae Hansen, senior advisor at the Graphic Association Denmark (the Danish equivalent of the PIAA) tells ProPrint: “The tax is extremely high. If the law is approved and takes effect we expect it to have serious consequences in the printing industry and the number of employed in the industry.”
The first version of the law was approved by the Danish Parliament in 2012 but the law is not yet in force because it failed in the ratification in EU.
The EU has stated that the original law is distortive because it did not cover commercial print sent by the national postal operator. The government now aims for an updated law which also covers direct mail.
If successful the tax will be a major win for the green lobby, and will represent a dramatic failure of the Danish print industry to communicate the reality of the environmental benefits of print versus electronic media channels.
With the current push for greener policies print industries across the world will be looking nervously at Denmark and wondering if the same policy will be implemented in their own countries.
However, some consider Denmark’s current government to be on the wilder fringes of normality. The country gives Islamist jihadists returning from the battlefields of Iraq a good job, rather than blocking their re-entry or locking them up, as virtually every other country does.
Nonetheless, it does sound a warning bell to print industries around the world that they need to raise their game in their lobbying and put maximum effort into ensuring that their own political leaders are not duped by the green movement.
This has already happened in Australia to a large extent, and is the reason why the lucrative corporate report and accounts work ceased, when corporates managed to persuade the government they were bad for the environment, when the reality was they wanted to save money.
Lobby group Two Sides has just launched a new campaign Value of Paper and Print to promote the industry, all printers with an eye for self-preservation are encouraged to join in.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter