Businesses Should Plan for Plastics Tax Now

Bright Green Plastics, the UK’s leading plastic recycling company, is urging British businesses to start planning now to avoid large plastics tax bills.

Earlier this year Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that April 2022 will see the introduction of a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content. With this tax, the Government hopes to increase the demand for recyclable packaging, and reduce carbon emissions as part of an ongoing bid to increase sustainability.

Bright Green Plastics has urged businesses to begin planning now to avoid heavy tax bills, recommending that businesses begin research and development measures to ensure they are able to successfully transition and future-proof long-term production capabilities.

Steve Spencer, Managing Director of Bright Green Plastics, commented, “Some of our customers already produce packaging with 100% recycled materials. However, there are some that are below the 30% level.

“We would recommend all businesses aim for a higher recycled plastic content benchmark than the minimum 30% – particularly as the outcome is likely to be unnoticeably different from virgin materials.”

The upcoming plastic tax is expected to boost the use of recycled by 40%, along with reducing carbon emissions by 200K tonnes.

“Recycled plastic provides a good quality, sustainable and CSR-friendly alternative to virgin plastic and we applaud the chancellor’s decision to bring in this tax,” concluded Spencer.