The Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Veolia has backed research from Imperial College London that puts forward the case for a plastic packaging tax in the UK.
The research found that the proposed tax will apply to all plastic packaging with less than 30 per cent recycled content which is recycled in the UK, as well as unfilled packaging imported into the country.
It estimates that with the price difference between recycled and virgin plastic around £500 per tonnes, the minimum tax level needed to make costs to industry similar between using 100 per cent virgin plastic packaging with a minimum 30 per cent recycled plastic content comes to £150 per tonne.
Richard Kirkman, CTIO at Veolia UK and Ireland, said: “Moving from virgin plastics to using recycled alternatives is essential for the environment, makes long-term financial sense, and reflects public expectations.”
“A packaging tax is designed to set a level field for companies using recycled content and will enable an additional two million tonnes of packaging to be recycled in the UK.”
“It is now up to government to go through with it and adopt this policy – a minimum of 30 per cent recycled content in packaging. There currently is not enough material recycled to feed this desire, and that’s precisely the point, when the market demands it, we will invest and provide it, and the tax will accelerate this demand.”