The UK Plastics tax, PCR – and how we can help

With increasing pressure to preserve resources and reduce energy consumption, the UK government has chosen to introduce new taxation laws relating to plastics packaging, starting April 2022.

The new tax will apply to all producers and importers of plastic packaging within the UK that do not contain 30% recycled content.

The tax will be levied at £200 per ton and represents a very significant extra oncost to businesses, their customers and in turn end consumers.

The reasoning behind the tax is to encourage businesses involved in producing and supplying packaging to start working towards more sustainability in their products. This includes not only the materials they use in manufacture, but the design also. 

We have seen clients start to progress with recycled materials in recent years, but many still have a reliance on prime polymer, and it is this type of application that the government are focussed on changing.

The aim is for us all to use plastics as a resource in the most effective manner possible – and in the long run this can only be a benefit to us all.

There has been a significant change in the material types and quality produced by recyclers in recent years. This has come in line with the improvements in technology for sorting and reprocessing and will continue to improve in line with demand.

PCR materials create a new challenge, and as a company we have invested heavily into the plant necessary to be able to process these materials reliably. We are now working with customers to supply ex kerbside PCR Polypropylene based materials to meet this requirement.

If you would like to talk about your products, recycling or how we might be able to help, please get in contact. 

We have been reprocessing plastics for nearly 20 years and have the experience and knowledge to help.