Clarity Environmental offers guidance to businesses affected by Plastic Tax

Following the release of the second round of consultation responses, and accompanying draft legislation, businesses will now be expected to put in place necessary adjustments for the introduction of the plastic packaging tax in April 2022.

The plastic packaging tax aims to encourage greater use of recycled plastic and to help tackle plastic packaging waste. The new tax will be delivered separately to the reform of the producer responsibility regulations, but the government believes that the two will complement each other and will provide businesses with the right incentives to recognise the impact of decisions around plastic packaging.

For businesses putting over 10 metric tonnes of plastic packaging into the UK market, either through import or manufactured in the UK, they will be charged £200 per tonne on any plastic packaging that does not contain 30% recycled content.

Clarity Environmental will be supporting their members who will be liable for the tax and providing helpful resources to explain how the tax will work, as well as best practice for preparing now and working with their members to gain further clarity on some of the complexities around the tax.

Jimmy Dorrell, Head of Sustainable Business and Charlotte Briggs, Policy and engagement lead hosted the first webinar to explain some of the key parts of the new legislation covering;  businesses who will be obligated, potential costs, materials, data, exports and transport packaging.

With high attendance from businesses wanting to find out more about how the plastic packaging tax will work, Charlotte Briggs comments that there is concern about some of the detail still needed for businesses.

“We are extremely pleased with the amount of engagement we had from the webinar. The willingness of businesses to participate and understand how the tax will be implemented and how this will be affecting them is encouraging for the positive outcomes for the tax. Many businesses want to engage with environmental practices and look at innovation in their packaging materials, such as increasing the use of recycled materials.

“After hearing some of the questions asked from the webinar, there are still items that require further clarification from HMRC. We are awaiting further guidance and process detail for; ancillary processes and where the tax point arises, due diligence, materials in scope of transport packaging outside of pallets and wrap, and definitions around plastic packaging intended for consumer use being in scope. HMRC have made it clear that this guidance is going to be available but we have yet to see a timeline for when we can use this for supporting businesses in preparation for the tax.”

You can access the webinar here and see our FAQ page for some of the commonly asked questions surround the plastic tax. If you have any additional questions or believe you may be liable for the tax get in touch with our team.

Find out more about the Plastic Packaging Tax