The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has been lobbying government officials in an effort to reduce the single-use plastics tax.
According to documentation seen by The Guardian, members of the BPF met Treasury staff last week to try and ‘water down’ this particular strategy to reducing plastic pollution.
The efforts follow chancellor Philip Hammond’s announcement that a tax would be levied on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content from 2022.
The BPF is forecasting that a plastics tax would increase the proportion of packaging using more than 30% recycled plastics from 25% in 2017 to 75% in 2022.
But documents obtained by Greenpeace and shared with The Guardian show that the BPF is concerned that the impact of the tax will see the sector shrink by 45% as companies turn to other packaging solutions.
In advance of the meetings, the BPF was reported to have asked companies to submit case studies outlining how the tax would create ‘unintended consequences’.
These could include packaging companies moving out of the UK.
The BPF commissioned E&Y to produce a response to the tax. The analysis delivered a series of alternative responses, including implement lower rates, seek exemptions, or supplant the current proposal with an alternative.
The BPF was planning to submit a formal response to the tax on 12 May.