It has recently been confirmed by the UK government that it’s plastic packaging tax (PPT) will be put into place on April 1st 2022. The new tax will be a charged rate of £200 per metric ton of chargeable plastic components of a single specification.
The new Plastic Packaging Tax will encourage the use of recycled plastics, and will encourage recycling and collecting plastic waste. This will therefore, divert the waste being deposited in a landfill or incineration.
The first legislation for Plastic Packaging Tax is currently before Parliament and at this time is not yet law. The second legislation will be introduced later in the year. Until these two legislations become law, the rules and regulations of this policy can be amended.
Plastic packaging made from over 30% of recycled plastic will not be required to pay the Plastic Packaging Tax. Packaging that consists of multiple materials in which plastic is not the heaviest when measured by weight will also avoid the new charges.
Businesses that manufacture or import 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging over a 12-month period will need to register for the new Plastic Packaging Tax. This includes businesses who do not need to pay the tax, as well as importers of packaging which already contains goods such as plastic bottles. In cases where the packaging imported already contains other goods, the tax will only apply to the plastic packaging itself.
Businesses are expected to keep record of the packaging manufactured despite not meeting the need to pay the Plastic Packaging Tax. All plastic packaging will be assumed to not meet the recycled content test until proven otherwise.
The requirements of record keeping will be reduced for businesses who manufacture or import less than 10 tonnes of plastic packaging a year. Further information regarding this and other regulations will be published later in the year.
Since 1992, D E Ball & Co Limited has been an independent business advisory service based in Telford, Shropshire. With their advisors working with businesses in the agriculture, services, construction and retailer sectors, they have a broad span of knowledge to offer. To see find out more about D E Ball, and Plastic Packaging Tax visit: https://www.deball.co.uk/