Plastics: Taxation

(asked on 16th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made in reviewing the benefits of the use of renewable plant-based plastics; and whether he plans to complete that review in time to inform the treatment of those plastics under the proposed plastic packaging tax.


Answered by
Kemi Badenoch Portrait
Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
This question was answered on 23rd July 2020

The departments for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are in the process of analysing responses to their call for evidence on setting standards for biodegradable, compostable and bio-based plastics as part of the Bioeconomy Strategy. This will also reinforce the Government’s understanding of their environmental impact of their wider adoption.

As set out in the current consultation on the Plastic Packaging Tax, the Government decided not to pre-judge the outcome of this work by having any special treatment for these types of plastics, which could encourage wider adoption of them. This is also in line with the majority view to the first consultation on the tax conducted in 2019.

The Government will keep their treatment within the tax under review throughout the process of introduction in April 2022 and following this to ensure the tax continues to deliver on the Government’s environmental objectives.

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