China Slaps Tax on Disposable Chopsticks (AP/ABC News)

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO May 12, 2006 (AP)— Walk into any Japanese noodle shop or restaurant and chances are you'll be eating with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks from China but not for long. In a move that has cheered environmentalists but worried restaurant owners, China has slapped a 5 percent tax on the chopsticks over concerns of deforestation.

The move is hitting hard at the Japanese, who consume a tremendous 25 billion sets of wooden chopsticks a year about 200 pairs per person. Some 97 percent of them come from China.

Chinese chopstick exporters have responded to the tax increase and a rise in other costs by slapping a 30 percent hike on chopstick prices with a planned additional 20 percent increase pending.
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Until the 1980s, about half the disposable chopsticks used in Japan were produced by Japanese companies. But that changed with the introduction of far cheaper Chinese-produced ones.
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more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1955140

25 BILLION?? How much cellolosic ethanol would that make? If they were made from Japanese-grown bamboo, that would be an interesting "use twice" approach.

at least the chopsticks are presumably bio-degradable

I probably have about 100 pair in my silverware drawer. They're very useful for lots of things besides eating Chinese food. Do people throw them away just because they say "disposable" on the package? Same deal with plastic utensils.. Just wash them!

it's astounding how many plastic forks, spoons, knives, and styro cups are thrown away in my tiny little office each day.. some people even get a NEW styro cup for each cup of coffee they drink!