Plastic packaging tax: summary of responses to the consultation July 2019 Plastic packaging tax: summary of responses to the consultation July 2019 © Crown copyright 2019 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email:
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[email protected] ISBN 978-1-912809-73-8 PU2276 Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 2 Chapter 2 Plastic packaging within scope of the tax 5 Chapter 3 Driving recycled content 8 Chapter 4 Setting the tax rate 13 Chapter 5 Liability for the tax 14 Chapter 6 Treatment of exports 17 Chapter 7 Excluding small operators 19 Chapter 8 Registering and reporting 22 Chapter 9 Ensuring compliance 23 Chapter 10 Understanding commercial practices and assessing 25 other impacts Chapter 11 Next steps 27 Annex A List of respondents 28 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 In March 2018, the government launched a call for evidence on using the tax system or charges to tackle single-use plastic waste. This received a record 162,000 responses, highlighting the strong public interest in action in this area. 1.2 Plastic packaging is typically only used for a short period and then disposed of, and accounts for 44% of plastic used in the UK,1 but 67% of plastic waste.2 1.3 Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging is used in the UK each year.3 The vast majority of this is made from new, rather than recycled plastic.