Recently, the German government announced that it would postpone the implementation of the "plastic tax" for one year to January 1, 2025, saying that the move was "in order to buy more time to develop an effective solution with as little bureaucracy as possible".
Background to the "plastics tax"
The European Union's "plastics tax", also known as the "plastic packaging tax", was introduced in January 2021 as part of the new revenue from the EU budget. It is one of the new "revenue streams" designed by the EU to "cut costs" in order to cope with the impact of the CKP epidemic and to finance its recovery plan, and it is the first of its kind to be implemented.
In July 2020, the EU Special Summit approved the EU budget for the period 2021 to 2027 and announced that from January 1, 2021, a "plastic packaging tax" would be introduced. The tax, to be paid by member states, is based on the amount of non-recyclable plastic packaging waste generated in the country over a 12-month period, with a base rate of 800 euros per ton.
Currently EU member states pay in two main ways:
1. Member States pay a "plastic tax" from their national budgets.
2. Member countries can design their own tax legislation ("plastic tax") and establish national systems to collect taxes by taxing specific taxpayers. (Each country determines the definition of products to be taxed, the mechanism of taxation, the method of refund, etc.). Countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain have enacted legislation to impose a "plastics tax".
It is estimated that this "plastic tax" will contribute about 7 billion euros a year in additional revenue to the European Union. France will pay 1.2 billion euros in 2021 alone.
German "plastic tax"
Until now, the cost in Germany has been borne by taxpayers and the public through the national budget. Recently, Germany's "traffic light" coalition government announced that it would pass on the cost to manufacturers of specific single-use plastic products, known as "polluters", in order to make up for a 1.4 billion euro budget deficit.
In May last year, the German legislature passed the "Single-Use Plastics Fund Act", or EWKFondsG, which requires producers of single-use plastic products to contribute to efforts to eliminate plastic waste, and which will determine the fund's tax rate as well as the payment system, was scheduled to begin on January 1, 2024, with the first payment in 2025.
The scope of application of WKFondsG covers the marketing of a number of disposable plastic products (EWK), which consist wholly or partly of plastics (i.e. polymers). The focus is on EWK in the food sector, such as food containers with and without lids, film packaging with up to 3-liter food or beverage containers or beverage cups. Lightweight plastic shopping bags as well as certain wipes, balloons, filters for tobacco products and, from 2026, fireworks.
A tax will be levied on each kilogram of EWK placed on the market:
1. Food containers | 0.177 Euro (currency) |
2. Pouch and Aluminum Foil Packaging | 0.876 Euro (currency) |
3.Non-storage of beverage containers | 0.181 Euro (currency) |
4. Beverage containers with deposits | 0.001 Euro (currency) |
5.drinking glass | 1.236 Euro (currency) |
6.Lightweight Plastic Shopping Bags | 3.801 Euro (currency) |
7.wipe | 0.061 Euro (currency) |
8.balloons | 4.340 Euro (currency) |
9.Tobacco products with filters and filters for tobacco products | 8.972 Euro (currency) |
The above levy rates and the quantities placed on the market in each case determine the specific charges of the manufacturer concerned.
In addition, the bill provides for relevant penalties. For example, a late payment fee of 1 per cent on top of the minimum will be levied in the event of a delay of more than three days in the payment of taxes due; and wilful or negligent violation of a registration or reporting obligation is an administrative offence punishable by a fine of up to 100,000 euros.
The introduction of the plastics tax has been strongly criticized by the plastics industry, with a number of trade organizations calling on the German government to withdraw the announced levy "in order to avoid further damage to the circular economy and climate protection, as well as the loss of industrial jobs." One organization cited a study by the German Federal Environment Agency, which concluded that a tax on single-use plastics alone could "lead to a seriously misleading effect, favouring other materials from the point of view of the ecological balance, but which are no better than single-use plastics, and depending on the particular field of application, sometimes even worse."
