EU plans to levy 'plastic packaging tax' in January next year

The special EU summit, which closed on the 21st, approved the EU budget for 2021-2027, expressly levying a "plastic packaging tax" from January 1, 2021.

According to the announcement issued by the European Council on the same day, the EU will introduce new sources of income in order to "income sources and reduce expenditures" in response to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. One of them is to apply 0.8 per kilogram of disposable plastic packaging from January 1, 2021. The euro (about 6.4 yuan) is taxed at the tax rate.

As the EU budget for 2021-2027 still needs the approval of the European Parliament, the announcement did not provide more details, such as whether to tax consumers or producers, the types of disposable plastic packaging that need to be taxed, and how member states submit relevant payments to the EU. Tax revenue, etc.

　　As early as 2018, the European Union decided to impose a tax on single-use plastic packaging. At that time, EU officials stated that due to China's prohibition on the entry of foreign waste, EU plastic waste exports are affected. The EU hopes to reduce the use of disposable plastic packaging and increase EU fiscal revenue through taxation.

　　 After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year, as the European Union plans to raise huge sums of money to restart the economy, the introduction of a "plastic packaging tax" has become more urgent. Previously, the media estimated that at a tax rate of 0.8 euros per kilogram, the EU could add 4 billion to 8 billion euros in tax revenue each year.

After the EU special summit on the 21st finalized the tax timetable, environmental protection organizations such as the German Environmental Project Assistance (DUH) immediately welcomed it, emphasizing that the EU’s "plastic packaging tax" has been brewing for a long time, and the tax rate is not high; however, Some media pointed out that for EU member states, especially plastic packaging producers, once the tax is imposed, it will be a big burden.

EU statistics show that the EU produces about 26 million tons of plastic waste each year, of which less than 30% is recycled. Most of the others are incinerated or dumped into landfills, and even more waste flows into rivers and oceans, causing serious pollution to the environment. For this reason, in 2018, the European Union recommended that member states ban plastic tableware (including straws, cutlery, etc.), cotton swabs, balloon brackets and other common plastic garbage on European beaches to curb increasing ocean plastic pollution.