The United Kingdom is introducing a plastic tax on 1st April 2022. Here is what you need to know.
The United Kingdom Government is introducing a new tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled plastic content. The tax comes into effect on the 1st April 2022.
The tax is expected to impact on an estimated 20,000 manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging and generate £235 million ($316 million/ €278 million) in additional revenue in the first year. The rate of the tax will be £200 ($269/ €237) per metric tonne of plastic packaging.
The new tax covers packaging that is either produced or imported into the UK market. The tax will not apply to any plastic packaging which contains at least 30% recycled plastic, or any packaging which is not predominantly plastic by weight.
Imported plastic packaging will be liable to the tax, whether the packaging is unfilled or filled.
You will need to keep records and, in most cases, register for the tax, even if all the packaging you manufacture, or import contains more than 30% recycled plastic.
A business will need to register for the tax if you are a business that manufactures or imports 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging over a 12-month period. Regardless of whether you will have to pay any tax. This includes importers of packaging which already contains goods, such as plastic bottles filled with drinks. Where the packaging you import already contains other goods, the tax only applies to the plastic packaging itself.
The online service to register and pay will be available on 1st April 2022 when the tax takes effect.
The Plastic Packaging Tax is designed to encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic material within plastic packaging. In turn, the tax will create greater demand for recycled plastic, and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.
To ensure that small businesses are not “disproportionately impacted”, there is a small business exemption to pay the tax for any business that manufactures or imports less than 10 tonnes of packaging in a 12-month period.
