In the proposal for the 2028-2034 long-term budget announced yesterday by the European Commission, under the section “own resources”, there is also an increase in the EU Plastics Tax, which would rise from 0.80 to 1euro per kilogram of plastic packaging that is not recycled in member countries.

Introduced in 2021 as a direct source of revenue for the EU budget, the tax does not directly affect producers or users of packaging, nor consumers,  but is paid by each member country as the difference between the weight of plastic packaging waste generated in a given year and the weight of that recycled in the same period.

In addition to purely economic purposes, the EU legislator intends for the tax to encourage recycling and reduce the production of non-recoverable plastic.

The increase is motivated by the decision to adjust the taxto inflation. For the same reason, it is also proposed to adjustthe rate on an annual basis in line with inflation rather than when the budget is renewed.

With a rate of 0.8%, the EU Plastics Tax generated revenue of almost €7.2 billion in 2023, equivalent to 4% of total EU revenue.

The increase to €1/kg should proportionally increase revenue to over €9 billion per year, provided that the total volume of non-recycled plastic remains stable over time.

Using the same mechanism, the EU Commission wants to introduce a new tax on non-recycled electrical and electronic waste, equal to €2 per kilogram, also to be adjusted annually in line with inflation, with the hope of generating revenue of around €15 billion per year.

Source: https://www.polimerica.it/articolo.asp?id=34252