Right now, the UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) puts a flat £210.82 per tonne (2025 rate) on plastic packaging with <30% recycled content which sounds good on paper but in practice it’s a very blunt tool.
It raises revenue but doesn’t scale supply of recycled feedstock. It punishes brands even when food contact regulations make 30% recycled impossible and it's led to paperwork gymnastics rather than packaging redesign.
Meanwhile, the EU’s Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is pushing for mandatory recycled content targets by polymer & format (PET, HDPE, PP, flexibles etc.). Eco-design rules include recyclability, disassemblability, colour restrictions and label guidance and is harmonised EPR with modulated fees to reward good design.
The UK simply doesn't need a plastic tax that punishes failure. We need a plastic framework that guarantees success and should dump PPT and adopt PPWR before we see the rest of our plastic recycling industry infrastructure close down for good.
If the UK swapped its Plastic Packaging Tax for a PPWR-style 30% recycled content mandate, the impact would be transformative. Recycled HDPE use would triple to nearly 400,000* tonnes a year; LDPE would quadruple to around 350,000* tonnes and PP would explode six-fold, also to nearly 400,000* tonnes per annum. (*estimated).
PET is already close to target, but the others show the prize is not just revenue for the Treasury but real markets, real investment, and real circularity.
PPT is a stick with no carrot; it raises money but doesn’t fix the system. PPWR is system change; It aligns design, recycling capacity and recycled content demand - it creates a market. PPWR - link - More like this (PPWR) - link - more like this (EU) - link
The UK simply doesn't need a plastic tax that punishes failure. We need a plastic framework that guarantees success and should dump PPT and adopt PPWR before we see the rest of our plastic recycling industry infrastructure close down for good.
If the UK swapped its Plastic Packaging Tax for a PPWR-style 30% recycled content mandate, the impact would be transformative. Recycled HDPE use would triple to nearly 400,000* tonnes a year; LDPE would quadruple to around 350,000* tonnes and PP would explode six-fold, also to nearly 400,000* tonnes per annum. (*estimated).
PET is already close to target, but the others show the prize is not just revenue for the Treasury but real markets, real investment, and real circularity.
PPT is a stick with no carrot; it raises money but doesn’t fix the system. PPWR is system change; It aligns design, recycling capacity and recycled content demand - it creates a market. PPWR - link - More like this (PPWR) - link - more like this (EU) - link
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