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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 644

single use plastics

Disposable plastic tableware for sale at a supermarket in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, October 27, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 3, 2025, 7:16 pm
Short-lived tax on disposable plastic sparked lasting Haredi hostility to green policy
Study shows that while feelings of victimhood initially fueled protest against tax, opposition to environmental policies remained after tax repealed
By Sue Surkes
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man buys disposable plastic dishes in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, January 20, 2023. (Oded Balilty/AP)
February 28, 2023, 10:40 am
Knesset scraps disposable plastic tax, satisfying Haredi coalition demand
Environmentalists angered by reversal of price hike on single-use utensils and plates, but ultra-Orthodox community views former government’s tariff as attack on its way of life
By ToI Staff
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man buys disposable plastic dishes in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, January 20, 2023. (Oded Balilty/AP)
January 30, 2023, 7:04 pm
Disposable plastics trigger culture war, testing government cohesion
A tax on single-use tableware that took a bite out of pollution is seen by ultra-Orthodox as an assault on their community; repealing it became a priority for Haredi parties
By Ilan Ben Zion
Disposable plastic tableware for sale at a supermarket in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, October 27, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 29, 2023, 6:52 pm
Cabinet votes to scrap disposable plastic tax, a demand of the Haredi community
With ultra-Orthodox using disproportionate amount of single-use tableware, ministers agree to seek a less costly alternative to reduce single-use plastic
By Sue Surkes
A man shops for disposable plastic tableware in Osher Ad Supermarket in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, October 27, 2021, shortly after new taxes on disposables went into effect in Israel. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 12, 2023, 4:16 am
Why Israel’s new right-wing leaders immediately made plasticware inexpensive again
Many in the Haredi community saw the last government’s tax hike on disposable utensils and sweetened drinks as a targeted attack, which the religious right-wing is now walking back
By Deborah Danan
Head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu attends Kikar HaShabbat conference at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem Hotel, September 12, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 25, 2022, 11:10 am
Netanyahu: ‘Won’t bow my head’ to US lawmakers’ warning against Ben Gvir partnership
In Haredi radio station interview, opposition leader pledges to scrap tax hikes on disposable plasticware and sweetened drinks, both hot-button issues for ultra-Orthodox community
By ToI Staff
A sea turtle entangled in a polypropylene sack. (Shai Feldman)
September 18, 2022, 11:17 pm
Plastic waste responsible for 1 in 3 turtles brought to treatment center
Numbers point to ‘no less than an environmental emergency,’; all dead turtles subjected to autopsy had plastic in digestive tracts
By Sue Surkes
Elishya Ben Meir, an 18-year-old Israeli, safely disposes of abandoned waste after registering it on the 'Clean Coin' mobile application as she walks her dog in the town of Kiryat Tiv'on near Israel's northern city of Haifa on October 20, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
November 10, 2021, 8:58 am
Trash into treasure: Israeli start-up gives virtual coins for picking up garbage
Clean Coin app deposits credit for people who collect litter, which can then be exchanged for goods, activities and vacations
By Alexandra Vardi
Disposable plastic tableware for sale in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, October 27, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 1, 2021, 10:32 am
Disposable plasticware prices soar as new tax introduced
Environment Ministry says higher levies on single-use cutlery, dishes could cut purchases by 40%; Minister Zandberg: ‘Israel’s addicted to disposable plastic and it’s time to quit’
By ToI Staff
Disposable plastic forks (Ewloskalw, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia)
July 20, 2021, 3:41 am
Israel’s Technion to ban most disposable plastic from October 1
Review finds that during 2019, Haifa institute bought over 2.3 million disposable cups, nearly a million single-use teaspoons and hundreds of thousands of other single-use items.
By Sue Surkes
Plastic waste discarded on a beach in Israel. (Screenshot)
July 19, 2021, 5:18 pm
Disposable plasticware prices to double in 2022 under new tax proposal
Finance and environmental ministries say 100% levy on disposable plasticware, which would go into effect in early 2022 pending Knesset approval, could cut purchases by 40%
By ToI Staff
Empty plastic bottles lie strewn on a Dead Sea beach, November 5, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 31, 2021, 6:04 pm
Store won’t refund your bottle deposit? Environment Ministry urges you to snitch
Call follows raids by ministry’s Green Police on 59 businesses, triggering fines and legal proceedings
By Sue Surkes
People shop for groceries at the Rami Levy supermarket in Modi'in, on September 24, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
November 17, 2020, 11:45 pm
4 years late, rules approved to enable fines for free plastic bag giveaways
Plastic Bag Law, passed in March 2016, included fine scale, but could not be implemented until accompanying regulations were approved
By Sue Surkes
Diver volunteers helping to collect trash from the Mediterranean Sea. (Dov Greenblatt, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel)
October 25, 2020, 3:07 pm
Large volunteer sand and sea cleanup planned for Friday
Event in and around Mediterranean, Red Sea and Sea of Galilee aimed at pressing for more marine reserves and better enforcement against litterbugs, single-use plastic ban
By Sue Surkes
Putting used cans and bottles into an automated compression machine that delivers a voucher to return deposits paid in advance. (Screenshot Tomra Group)
October 18, 2020, 9:20 pm
Environment minister extends deposit law to bottles of up to 5 liters
Despite opposition of drinks companies, ultra-Orthodox, Gila Gamliel announces change to law as ‘win-win for environment, society, economy’; to save public NIS 60 million per year
By Sue Surkes
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