The United Kingdom implemented a new tax intended to curb the production of single-use plastics. According to authorities, the levy is aimed at encouraging higher levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste away from landfill or incineration. From April 1, manufacturers and importers will have to pay £200 per ton of any plastic made from less than 30% recycled materials. The government estimates that the measure would save 200,000 tons of carbon emissions in the first year and increase demand for recycled materials by 40%. Industry, however, warns that it will increase costs for consumers, especially for food packaging that cannot always be made from recycled plastic. One aspect to bear in mind is that for UK legislation, what is understood by recycled plastic is not equivalent to what the Spanish Waste and Contaminated Soil Bill for a Circular Economy accepts as recycled plastic. In the UK, recycled plastic will be that which has been reprocessed from recovered material through a chemical or manufacturing process, so that it can be used for its original purpose or for other purposes. It is important to note that material from organic recycling is not included as recycled material.
What is Meant by Recovered Material? In this regard, it’s important to know what is meant by recovered material, according to the official UK Government website, recovered material is a pre-consumer or post-consumer plastic that has been collected and recovered as input material and is used for a recycling or manufacturing process in place of new primary material. Pre-consumer material does not include plastic that is reused in the same process in which it was generated, i.e. scrap and offcuts. It also differs from the Spanish project in terms of multilayer materials or packaging, since in this sense they will only be included in the application of the tax when they contain more plastic by weight than any other individual material. Also excluded are plastic containers whose function is that of secondary packaging when the packaging is an integral part of the goods or is designed primarily to be reused for the presentation of goods.
Finally, another difference to be noted is the exemption from taxation of the following types of packaging: plastic packaging used as transport packaging for imported goods. plastic packaging used in railway, maritime and aeronautical stores. plastic packaging used in the primary packaging of a medicine. With the decision, the United Kingdom joins a growing list of countries limiting the production of disposable plastic items. The United Nations estimates that one million plastic bottles are bought every minute and 500 billion bags are used every year. With a devastating result for nature and the environment: 8 million tons end up in the oceans every year. CommonShare’s goal is to build a common protocol for sustainable supply chains. This includes brands and standards that work towards acheiving circular economy. TerraCycle is only one example of standard that certifies products made of recycled plastic. RePurpose is also betting on solving the global plastic waste crisis by offering consulting services and different certifications; the plastic neutral certification, the pastic negative certification, and the Impact Guarantee Program.