Tax on 'bad plastic' expected to be signed off by Government to boost recycling

A plastic tax will soon be introduced by the government to curb the use of non-recyclable plastic items such as drinking straws, single use cutlery and black food trays, ministers have indicated. 

The Treasury is working on the details of a new and wide-reaching plastic tax which is expected to be announced in the next Budget. 

The levy is likely to be applied to businesses producing "bad" plastics to encourage them to switch to more environmentally friendly materials, which are less damaging to the earth. 

However the cost of such a tax would end up being passed onto consumers through higher prices for items in shops until shops stop using materials hit by the plastic tax.

It is thought that these could include a wide range of items including bottles, single use cutlery, drinking straws, takeaway packaging, fruit netting, cling film, crisp packets and plastic wrap. 

It comes after the Treasury received a "record breaking" response for the idea, with 162,000 replies from businesses and members of the public. 

The vast majority of respondents to the consultation, called "tackling the plastic problem", said they would back a tax charge on single use plastic items including cups, plastic cutlery, lids and straws.  

The Treasury said the responses would help shape policy ahead of the next Budget in November. 

Last night The Exchequer Secretary, Robert Jenrick, said: "Our primary interest is in how we can persuade the producers of plastic materials and the retailers to choose recycled materials wherever possible rather than new virgin plastics and to deter them from using those types of plastics which are extremely hard or impossible to recycle like black carbon plastic. 

"Our focus is on the producers of those plastics and the retailers who are making the decisions about the types of plastic we see on the shelves, rather than the consumer. 

"If you read the responses [to the consulation] this is an industry which is very price sensitive so we do believe there is evidence that a tax incentive would be likely to shift behaviour towards more recycled materials." 

"We have a lot more work to do in the run up to the Budget but we have set out the areas that came up very strongly are the ones we are now doing more work on."  

In his last Budget the Chancellor referenced the BBC's Blue Planet 2 as he announced an investigation into how the tax system and charges on single-use plastic items might be used to reduce waste. 

“I want us to become a world leader in tackling the scourge of plastic,” he said at the time.   He added that the details of any plastic tax announced at the Budget, such as the amount businesses will be charged, and which items will be included, have not yet been decided.

However measures which the Treasury said received the "most noteworthy" support were encouraging greater use of recycled plastic in manufacturing rather than new plastic, and discouraging the use of difficult to recycle plastics, like carbon black plastic.

Also included on the shortlist of favoured policies were reducing demand for single-use plastics like coffee-cups and takeaway boxes and encouraging recycling instead of incinerating rubbish. 

Louise Edge, senior plastic pollution campaigner at Greenpeace, said: “Public outrage over the issue of plastic pollution has been explosive over the past year or so. It’s hardly surprising when you see the impact of plastic on wildlife and our oceans, and when it’s clear that so many companies are still pumping out throwaway plastic with no regard for the damage it causes.

"The so-called latte levy on disposable coffee cups seems inevitable now, but that should be just the tip of the iceberg. This is a public mandate to end the age of throwaway plastics."