Plastic packaging tax

HMRC has expanded the section on recycled plastic in its guidance on packaging subject to plastic packaging tax, noting the statutory limit that plastic packaging, where 30% or more of the plastic used is recycled, is not chargeable to tax (although it still counts towards the amount that is manufactured or imported in a 12-month period).

Recycled plastic is a plastic that is reprocessed from recovered material. The updated guidance explains the meaning of the following key definitions:

• Recovered material: pre-consumer plastic or post-consumer plastic that has been collected and recovered by using a chemical or manufacturing process, so that it can be used either for its original purpose or for other purposes.
• Pre-consumer plastic: plastic recovered from waste generated in a manufacturing process and then further processed by a reprocessing facility.
• Post-consumer plastic: plastic that is generated by the end user of the product where the product can then no longer be used for its intended purpose.

Guidance on the types of packaging that are exempt from the tax has been removed and relocated to a new, separate note Check which plastic packaging is exempt from Plastic Packaging Tax.