These Regulations define the meaning of a “packaging component” that is subject to Plastic Packaging Tax, introduced by the Finance Act 2021. They modify the meaning of a “packaging component”, as it applies to Plastic Packaging Tax so as to remove three categories of products and add a further category of products to the meaning of a “packaging component”.
The Plastic Packaging Tax is designed to encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic material within plastic packaging. In turn, the tax will create greater demand for recycled plastic, and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.
To ensure the tax is properly targeted, this Regulation removes three categories of products from the meaning of a “packaging component” for the purposes of the tax. The approach to use categories describing products, rather than an exhaustive list, has been chosen due to the diverse nature of packaging, the broad definition of packaging component and the rapid development of new packaging types. This approach gives more flexibility as it incorporates further products as they are developed without further legislation. Any exhaustive list developed would be unlikely to capture all relevant products and would become out of date very rapidly.
