Treasury told to tax plastics to encourage recycling
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - 18:36:33
The government is being encouraged to impose taxes on so-called ‘virgin’ plastic products, making it more likely that manufacturers and consumers alike will choose to use items which are made using recycled materials.
Over the past few weeks the Treasury has been running an in-depth consultation to deal with the issue of plastics and the waste problems they are creating in the UK and abroad.
Representatives of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management said that taxation was the best solution for overcoming the current complications that are facing the country, according to Materials Recycling World.
In particular it is argued that polymers should be taxed the most heavily, since these are difficult to process effectively and are also amongst the most common types of plastic packaging currently used today.
Industry insiders also believe that the war against single-use plastics should be fought in much the same way as the approach taken to drive down plastic bag use. The 5p charge resulted in a dramatic drop in plastic waste and is seen as the model that all other campaigns should follow going forwards.
It is certainly the case that both businesses and consumers are most easily swayed by changes to taxation which make everyday products more expensive to manufacture and buy. So rather than relying on people moving over to a more eco-friendly approach to waste as a result of ad campaigns, this can be achieved more quickly through economic pressures.
The other option is to give products made with recycled plastics and materials a tax break, incentivising the switch and letting producers offer discounts to customers, rather than forcing them to raise prices. The results of the consultation, as well as the opinions of industry experts provided here, should be used to dictate the government’s recycling strategy going forwards.
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