Tough. Don't go into business ruining the environment. Similar closures would have happened in asbestos, coal, tetraethyl lead additives and plenty of other things we've discovered are a very bad idea.
> Reducing availability and increasing cost of medical goods
That's quite a leap - do you have a source?
Scotland is banning all plastic straws from end of next year. I sincerely doubt there is going to be a black market as a result.
Only Slightly Joking
Ireland was, IIRC, the first country to introduce a bag levy. In spite of some gnashing of teeth, the world didn't fall apart, companies didn't go out of business (in fact, they started producing reusable bags), and the result was a net positive that we didn't have a plague of plastic bags blowing around the place. People got into the habit of keeping a set of reusable bags in their car or close at hand.
The same story has been repeated wherever such a levy has been introduced.
> Put companies out of business that produce or import said goods
Good! Good. If you are actively contributing to polluting the earth and making it uninhabitable for future generations, then losing your business is probably the least horrible thing that can happen to you.
This article doesn't say that. How many people would pay a toll/transit fare and spend an hour on the road both way to get a larger soda?
It's not clear why someone who really, really wanted more than 16 oz. of soda could not simply order two, if they want it so much they're willing to consider traveling to New Jersey. Or for that matter just go to the store and buy a 2 liter bottle of soda.
Neither did either of us predict that Microsoft's Apple investment driven only by the fear of potentially more regulatory oversight after destroying their competition would trigger Apple's revolution of cellphone market and yield a company so successful it is sitting on billions in cash. Neither of us predicted those things because if we had we'd have put every penny into their respective stocks and neither of us would be wasting time on Hacker News. So (neither of us being millionaires aside) don't assume all outcomes from the law of unintended consequences are negative.
Hang on, you're telling us you think people in New York City hopped on a ferry, train, or taxi to New Jersey to buy a cup with few more ounces of soda? Instead of just buying a second soda?
Such a claim makes it pretty hard to give any credit to your other assertions.
Just like overconsumption of cigarettes, alcohol etc. imposes a much bigger cost in the long run (in welfare countries).
I highly doubt people are going to travel out of Taiwan (which is an island, making this inconvenient) or establish a "black market" just so they can have single-use plastic straws.
You don't have much faith in free markets. They will adapt.
> Reducing availability and increasing cost of medical goods that use plastic because the aforementioned companies no longer exist or are importing products
What detailed knowledge do you have of medical devices supply chains that makes you so sure?
* Put companies out of business that produce or import said goods
* Reducing availability and increasing cost of medical goods that use plastic because the aforementioned companies no longer exist or are importing products
* Put pressure on manufactures to use alternate materials (bamboo and glass most likely) causing shortages and rising cost
This in the long run is going to put an overall strain on on the country that is going to drive commerce away and make a black market. Just look at place that bans or places a sin taxes on certain products.
Soda Tax in New York that made people go to New Jersey:
https://nypost.com/2014/06/26/highest-court-in-ny-refuses-to...
Bicycle Tax added because people stopped using cars because of another tax so a new tax had to replace the car tax:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/17/first-bicyc...