Share of UK services utilizing recycled plastic in product packaging increasing from 31% to 44%
A brand-new UK tax on plastic product packaging currently appears to be dealing with the quantity of product packaging in the UK * including recycled plastic increasing from 31% of all product packaging when the tax was presented to 44% within the very first 6 months, states international law practice Pinsent Masons.
The UK Plastic Product packaging tax puts a ⤠200 per tonne levy on plastic product packaging with less than 30% recycled material. The goal of the tax is to motivate higher use of recycled plastics in product packaging plastic, by making non-recycled product packaging more costly.
Abigail McGregor, Legal Director at Pinsent Masons, states that the rise in company use of recycled plastic within the very first 2 quarters recommends that the tax has actually had the desired effect. Nevertheless, she warns that figures in the 3rd and 4th quarters reveal making use of recycled plastic product packaging level off, recommending development might stall if extra recycling capability isn’t developed.
States Abigail McGregor: “The brand-new plastic product packaging tax has actually offered additional earnings for the taxman, and triggered behavioural modification, motivating UK services to quickly move to utilizing recycled plastics.”
” Whilst a great deal of business felt that the intro of the tax was not especially smooth and needed a great deal of assistance to solve, the tax does a minimum of appear to be working.”
” There is a danger that need from services on plastic product packaging manufacturers to consist of progressively more recyclables will quickly overtake the supply of these products. Structure higher capability for recycling is necessary.”
There is a shortage in the existing UK’s projection domestic capability for recycling plastic product packaging, which presently stands at simply 700,000 tonnes a year, representing around simply 20% of the country’s approximated yearly 3.5 million tonnes of plastic product packaging waste.
An overall of 4,140 business paid the Plastic Product packaging tax over a twelve-month duration.
* Produced by services that make or import 10 tonnes or more of plastic product packaging within a 12-month duration