BPF Director General calls for reform of industry’s existing ‘plastics tax’

Philip Law has called for the reform of the current Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system as a positive measure in reducing plastics waste.

Writing for Politics Home, Law said that the Federation welcomed the Government’s recent consultation on single-use plastic items, but the implementation of a suggested tax on virgin polymer would cause “significant damage” to a successful economic contributor and do little to reduce the problem of plastic in the environment.

“One thing should not be forgotten: the plastics industry already pays a ‘plastics tax’,” he wrote.

“Under the extended producer responsibility system, the plastics industry pays money to the Government via what is known as a Packaging Recovery Note (PRN). It’s a system that needs urgent reform. It is a key driver, for example, of the perverse incentive to export unsorted plastic waste to foreign markets, as has recently hit the headlines.”

Law said that through the reform of the PRN system the industry would be prepared to pay higher fees if it meant the money was reinvested to correct the decades of under-investment in the UK’s recycling infrastructure, and support plastic manufacturers to invest in the product innovations that mean more reusable and recyclable products, and less throwaway items.

“We also want to see the system extended to include plastic items that are not packaging products but are products used in conjunction with food and drink consumed ‘on the go’, such as cutlery or straws,” he added.