In the UK yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak presented his Budget to Parliament, in which he announced, among other things, that a plastic packaging tax will be introduced from April 2022, in a bid to encourage producers to increase their use of recycled material.
Manufacturers and importers will reportedly be charged £200 per tonne on packaging made of less than 30 per cent recycled plastic. “That will increase the use of recycled plastic in packaging by 40 per cent, equal to carbon savings of nearly 200,000 tonnes,” the Chancellor said.
He also announced the launch of a further consultation – following up on the initial consultation in 2019 - on the detailed design and implementation of the tax.
The British Plastics Federation (BPF) issued a statement in response, saying that ‘as an industry, we want to play our part in leaving the environment in a better state for future generations’. The Federation agreed that a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content would increase the use of recycled material. BPF also said, however, that questions remain, especially regarding whether the tax will apply to packaging that cannot incorporate recycled content due to existing legislation.
“We look forward to working with the government during the upcoming consultation to address these matters,” it said.
Chloe Kinner, a Wood Mackenzie Research Associate, also weighed in, saying that the UK currently recovers or recycles just under 50% of plastics packaging, making it a middling performer in European terms. This tax will increase the price of virgin plastic relative to recyclate, thus helping to incentivise more responsible sourcing and production.
"However, further progress is required on collection, as more investment is needed in sorting and processing plastic material. The industry will need to continue to invest in new technologies, such as chemical recycling, to fully deal with the issue," she concluded.